Inflation could drive up Social Security payments by a record-high level next year due to inflation, with average payments reaching $1,800, according to an analysis by the Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan group that focuses on issues related to older U.S. citizens.
Based on the inflation data through August, the Senior Citizens League estimates the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2023 will be at 8.7 percent, the group stated in a press brief on Sept. 13. An 8.7 percent increase would push up the average retiree benefit by $144.10, which would take such payments from the current $1,656 to $1,800.
“A COLA of 8.7 percent is extremely rare and would be the highest ever received by most Social Security beneficiaries alive today. There were only three other times since the start of automatic adjustments that it was higher (1979–1981),” the brief states….