Social Security benefits will increase by 8.7 percent in 2023, the biggest boost in 40 years, the Social Security Administration announced on Oct. 13.
The cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment will bolster retirees’ monthly payments by an average of more than $140 per month.
“The 8.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2023,” the Social Security Administration (SSA) stated.
In addition, “increased payments to more than 7 million [Supplemental Security Income] beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2022,” it said, noting that some people receive both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income.
The increase, amid surging inflation, tops this year’s 5.9 percent adjustment, which at the time was the highest in decades. It’s the biggest jump since the SSA in 1981 announced an 11.2 percent increase, which had followed a 14.3 percent boost in 1980, data shows….