The Social Security program provides well over seventy million vulnerable Americans with a stable monthly income. Just last week on August 14th, the program celebrated its 90th anniversary. The program had first been introduced as a means of preventing elder poverty but has since grown into so much more.
Over the course of the past ninety years, the program has faced many changes, some major and some minor. This year kicked off with a major legislation change in the form of the Social Security Fairness Act which effectively repealed two previous provisions: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
Alongside this big change, beneficiaries are also faced with other more consistent changes, or rather updates, that happen on a yearly basis. This includes changes such as the annual Cost of Living Adjustment announcement, the increasing of the Full Retirement Age, the tax limit, or how to earn Social Security credits. Another significant issue that beneficiaries should be aware of is the projected shortfall of the Social Security program which, if not resolved soon, could trigger automatic cuts to benefit amounts for all beneficiaries.
Here are some of the upcoming changes beneficiaries need to keep an eye out for.
Social Security COLA announcement
Each year, Social Security benefit amounts are adjusted in order to account for the effects of inflation. This adjustment is known as the Cost of Living Adjustment, or COLA, and it is announced by the Social Security Administration in mid-October each year. The COLA is determined using the third quarter CPI-W of the current year as measured against the previous year.
For 2025, the COLA came in at 2.5% and all benefits were adjusted according in January. Subsequently, as third quarter inflation data for the current year begins to solidify, predictions from experts are growing closer in accuracy. Based on June and July data as released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both The Senior Citizens League and independent analyst Mary Johnson have estimated a COLA of 2.7% for 2026.
Full Retirement Age increases
Social Security benefits can be claimed from aged 62, however, if you do claim at the age, your benefits will be reduced slightly as this is considered as claiming early. The reason for this is that the SSA has a Full Retirement Age in place and as such, a retiree will only qualify for their full benefits once they reach this age. The decision to gradually increase the Full Retirement Age was first introduced as part of the Amendments in the 80s in order to account for growing life expectancy.
It is also worth noting that if a retiree holds off on claiming benefits until they are 70 which is past their FRA, they will qualify for an even higher benefit amount. In 2025, the FRA was increased to 66 years and 10 months for those born in 1959. Next year, the FRA will reach 67 years for those born in 1960 and later and following this, it will no longer increase. However, the FRA of 67 may not last for long and could increase further in the near future as a means of preventing the projected shortfall of the program as outlined in the latest report from the Social Security Board of Trustees.
Wage cap increase
Social Security is primarily funded by a dedicated payroll tax, however, there is a limit to how much of your income can be taxed. This is known as the wage base limit and for 2025, the wage base is $176,100. This means that any income earned above $176,100 will not be considered when you are paying into Social Security payroll taxes.
For 2026, the wage base limit is expected to increase to $183,600, according to estimates in the Social Security Board of Trustees report.