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Screw your healthcare though.

Seniors will soon learn how much their Social Security checks will
increase thanks to the new cost-of-living adjustment for 2025 in about
two weeks. Experts discussed with Newsweek what to expect and why. To
ensure that seniors maintain their purchasing power, Social Security
checks are adjusted annually by the COLA, which takes into account the
previous year’s inflation. Although this year’s COLA was 3.2%, experts
have warned that payments are unlikely to increase by that much next
year. After an earlier estimate of 2.57 percent, the Senior Citizens
League has revised its forecast for the 2025 COLA to just 2.5 percent.

Social Security checks will increase as of October
A 2.5 percent increase would give seniors an extra $48 on average, or an average of $1,968 per month. Kevin Thompson, a financial expert and
president and CEO of 9i Capital Group, predicts that the COLA will be
around 2.5 percent due to declining inflation. According to Thompson and Newsweek, the COLA is linked to fluctuations in inflation, so when
inflation falls, so does the COLA. Since 2021, when the increase was
1.3%, this will be the lowest COLA increase. Seniors may have become
accustomed to higher COLAs in recent years. In 2023, the COLA was set at
a much higher 8.7%, compared to just 3.2% in 2024.

This is the largest increase since the COLA was 14.3 percent in 1981. In addition, older people who rely on their Social Security checks may be
shocked to learn that some estimates put the COLA as low as 2.5 percent.
For example, Joseph Patrick Roop, president of Belmont Capital Advisors, expects the COLA to be between 2.1 and 2.5 percent, which is more in
line with previous Social Security increases. Seniors should be aware
that Medicare premiums, which are deducted from Social Security and are increasing at a rate of 7.42 percent for Part B and 6.73 percent for
Part D, have been rising, Roop told Newsweek, “even though other
inflation is much higher at the grocery store and on college campuses.
This is one of the main reasons why Social Security’s revised income
often falls, even with small COLA increases.

The new increase in Social Security checks will partially cover monthly expenses
Expert in finance and creator of michaelryanmoney.com Michael Ryan
predicted that the COLA will be between 2.3 and 2.7 percent. Ryan stated
that although the 2025 COLA will help seniors financially, it probably
won’t completely offset the increases in rent, grocery, and Medicare
costs. Moreover, it is anticipated that Medicare Part B premiums will
rise. The COLA adjustment will be impacted by this. According to Ryan, Newsweek, seniors will have to devote a greater percentage of their
Social Security checks to covering medical expenses. He also highlighted
that while food inflation has slowed, prices remain elevated. Many
seniors will only receive a portion of their COLA to offset higher
grocery expenditures.

As a result, many seniors may have to look for part-time work or find a
way to earn money from their investments. The Social Security
Administration will announce the COLA on 10 October after receiving the
latest inflation data. Although the COLA protects seniors from
inflation, many believe it is not enough to increase their Social
Security checks, and they continue to struggle to make ends meet. A
survey by the Senior Citizens League found that around 80% of pensioners
wanted greater inflation protection.

To achieve this, some have suggested using the Consumer Price Index
(CPI) for the elderly rather than the CPI for urban workers and
employees. However, this is unlikely to be changed until the COLA for
2025 is finalized. Finally, Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor
at the University of Tennessee at Martin, recently told Newsweek that
the results show that inflation is slowing, despite higher costs than a
few years ago. However, additional money is still needed to meet
day-to-day expenses, as the current increase is less significant than
previous ones.

https://lagradaonline.com/us/social-security-checks-increase-october/

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