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How are Social Security cost of living adjustments (COLA) calculated?
The adjustments are based on data relating to inflation.
Some Americans will receive two Social Security payments this week, a rare occasion that is the result of a quirk in the system.
Typically, the Social Security Administration sends out just one payment each week, delivering Social Security checks on the second, third and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Then it pays Supplemental Social Security Income — which provides support for disabled people and older Americans with low incomes — on the first of the month unless it falls on a weekend or holiday.
Because March 1 coincides with the fourth Wednesday of February, some SSI recipients will receive both payments this week. That means roughly 7.4 million SSI recipients will get their March payments on Friday, March 1.
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To be clear, the back-to-back deposits do not mean retirees are receiving extra money — it's just an early payment for the following month.
A Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury. (Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images / Getty Images)
This is slated to happen two more times this year, in August and November, according to a schedule of payments on the Social Security Administration's website.
Retirees received a modest cost-of-living bump this year, but many have reported struggling to get by as they continue to battle high inflation that has rapidly eroded their purchasing power.
A recent survey published by Atticus found that an overwhelming percentage of seniors collecting Social Security — about 62% — are dissatisfied with the 3.2% payment increase they're receiving in 2024.
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In fact, nearly three in five seniors reported struggling financially as the cost of everyday necessities like food, rent and medical care remains uncomfortably high, while about 20% of seniors receiving Social Security plan to seek employment this year due to the small increase.
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Retirees reported concerns over rising utility, insurance, heating and food costs.
More than 66 million Americans collecting Social Security received the bigger payments beginning in January.
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The payment boost marked a steep decline from 2023, when recipients received an 8.7% bump, the highest in four decades. However, it remains higher than the 2.6% average increase recorded over the past two decades.
An increase of this magnitude raised the average retiree benefit of $1,907 by about $59 per month.
The annual Social Security change is calculated based on the consumer price index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or the CPI-W, from July, August and September.
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