Inflation is a fickle and persistent facet of our daily lives. The relentless increasing costs of goods and services year after year will naturally take its toll on every single individual regardless of income bracket, however, for those living off of a fixed income such as Social Security, the repercussions of inflation are often more severe. In order to aid this issue, the Social Security Administration (SSA) implements a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to benefits once a year.
The COLA is aimed at allowing the benefit check to retain its buying power in the face of inflation year after year. The COLA has been calculated automatically since 1975 by measuring the CPI-W for July, August, and September from one year to the next. If there is an increase in the CPI-W from the previous year to the current year, this will become the next COLA.
In 2025, seniors spanning the country saw a 2.5% increase to their benefits. On October 24th, the SSA announced the COLA increase for 2026, following some minor delays as a result of the federal government shutdown. For 2026, all benefits issued by the SSA will receive a modest 2.8% increase. Historically speaking, a COLA of 2.8% reads as average, however, if you look at the COLAs of the last ten years, the 2026 COLA could even be considered below average.
Furthermore, a significant chunk of the 2026 COLA will be lost to most seniors before their benefit checks even reach their bank accounts. Here is everything you need to know.
2026 COLA — what should seniors expect?
The 2026 COLA increase of 2.8% is slightly higher than that of 2025 which brought retirees across the country a modest 2.5% bump in their benefits. The average benefit check currently stands somewhere in the $2000 range and as such, the average COLA increase for 2026 should amount to around $52-$56 per month depending on the type of benefit. This increase will be implemented with the January 2026 benefit and will be applied to all benefits issued by the SSA, including the Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
For August 2025, the average benefit for a retired worker comes in at $2,008.31. The 2.8% COLA increase will add $56.23 to this, bringing the total up to $2,064.54 in 2026. Spousal benefits amount to $954.93 on average in August 2025, but will increase by $26.74 to $981.67 following the COLA increase.
The average survivor benefit as of August 2025 is $1,575.30 and following the COLA increase, this will jump up by $44.11 to $1,619.41. Disability benefits for August 2025 average at $1,445.72, but will increase by $40.48 following the COLA increase in 2026 bringing the average amount up to $1,486.20.
Medicare premium hike enroute
Social Security recipients who are aged 65 and older will often have their Medicare premium costs deducted automatically from their benefit checks. While the Medicare Part A premium is typically free, the Part B premium does have costs attached to it. In 2025, the Part B premium sets seniors back by $185. According to the Medicare annual report, however, the Part B premium is projected to face an astounding 11.6% increase in 2026.
An increase of 11.6% would increase the cost of the Part B premium by $21.50, meaning that seniors would soon have to pay $206.50 for their Part B premium. The average retiree receives approximately $2,008 in benefits each month. Once the Part B premium cost is deducted from this, the retiree is left with a monthly benefit of around $1,823.
The 2026 COLA increase will bring the average retiree check up to around $2,064 but the Medicare Part B premium will also be increasing to around $206. Once the new Part B cost is deducted from the new average after the COLA increase, the retiree will only be left with about $1,858.
In short, once the Part B premium hike and the 2026 COLA increase offset each other in the average benefit check, seniors will only be receiving an additional $35 or so more in their checks in 2026 — despite the COLA increase equating to $56 on average.