As October of each year approaches, anticipation grows for retirees across the country as the next Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) announcement inches closer. This year, the COLA announcement was faced with some minor delays due to the federal government shutdown, however, a concession was made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since the required data had already been collected prior to the shutdown. The Social Security Administration (SSA) subsequently announced the 2026 COLA on October 24th upon the release of the September CPI by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For 2026, all benefits issued by the SSA will receive a modest 2.8% increase, and this is set to go into effect with the January round of benefits. Here is what you need to know.
What is the COLA?
There are currently well over 70 million beneficiaries in the Social Security program, many of whom rely primarily on their monthly benefits to cover their expenses. Living off of a fixed income can often be tough to navigate, particularly if that is your primary source of income each month — so what happens when the effects of inflation reach you? This is where the Cost of Living Adjustment comes into play.
The COLA is an annual increase implemented to benefits with the aim of countering the effects of year over year inflation. In order to determine the COLA, the SSA takes the CPI-W for the third quarter of the current year and measures it against the CPI-W for the third quarter of the previous year. If there is an increase, this will become the next COLA. If there is a decrease, the COLA will merely default to 0%, meaning that your benefits will never be cut due to a drop in inflation rates.
For 2025, the COLA brought seniors across the country a 2.5% increase. Next January, beneficiaries in the program will receive a 2.8% boost to their checks. For the average retiree benefit, this translates to a dollar increase of about $56. Since the COLA is a percentage increase, the exact dollar amount any one beneficiary will receive will likely differ from one person to the next.
As such, the SSA has shared that it will begin mailing personalized notices to recipients as of early December. Alternatively, beneficiaries can view their personalized COLA increase online through their my Social Security account. This will be available as of late November, however, the user will need to have created their my Social Security by November 19th latest, as per the SSA.
When will beneficiaries receive their 2026 COLA increase?
The 2026 COLA increase will be implemented starting with the January 2026 benefit, and this applies to both the regular Social Security benefit, as well as the Supplemental Security Income. The regular Social Security benefit is paid on Wednesdays throughout the month relative to the date of birth of the recipient. The Supplemental Security Income, on the other hand, is paid on the first of each month.
Recipients of the regular Social Security benefit will receive their first benefit check with the COLA increase included on the following dates in January:
- January 14th, second Wednesday — recipients with birth dates from the 1st to the 10th of their respective birth month
- Janaury 21st, third Wednesday — recipients with birth dates from the 11th to the 20th of their respective birth month
- January 28th, third Wednesday — recipients with birth dates from the 21st to the 31st of their respective birth month
It is also important to note that if a beneficiary has been receiving Social Security before May 1997, or if they are receiving both Social Security and SSI benefits, then their Social Security benefit will be paid on the 3rd of the month.
While the SSI benefit is typically paid on the first of each month, January 1st is a holiday, which means that the SSA will issue the January SSI on the last working day of the previous month. As such, the January 2026 SSI will be paid to recipients on December 31st, 2025.