Social Security beneficiaries may see a modest increase in their benefits next year, with The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) forecasting on Sept. 11 that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025 will be 2.5 percent, the lowest level since 2021.
It noted that a 2.5 percent increase would raise the average Social Security monthly benefit of $1,920 by approximately $48 per month.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is set to announce the official COLA for 2025 in mid-October.
TSCL’s 2024 Retirement Survey found that 65 percent of respondents reported monthly expenses of at least $2,000, a significant rise from 55 percent in 2023. The survey, which included more than 2,100 participants, also revealed that nearly 80 percent of senior households experienced increases in essential expenses such as food, housing, and prescription drugs over the past year.
“Ensuring that seniors have enough to feed and house themselves with dignity is a major reason why we advocate for a minimum COLA of 3 [percent],” Shannon Benton, TSCL’s executive director, said in a statement on Sept. 11. “TSCL research shows that approximately two-thirds of seniors rely on Social Security for more than half of their monthly income, and 28 [percent] depend on it entirely.”
Core inflation, which removes the volatile energy and food categories, held steady at 3.2 percent in annual terms. However, the core consumer price index (CPI) jumped at a higher-than-expected pace of 0.3 percent, up from 0.2 percent in the previous month, suggesting elevated underlying inflationary pressures.
Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate, said that inflation continues to affect Americans and that the rise in the monthly core CPI was disappointing.
“Households know all too well the difference between ‘moderating inflation’ and ‘high prices.’ A lower rate of inflation just means prices aren’t going up as fast as they had, not that prices are coming down in any broad way,” he said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times. “Even a more customary pace of inflation doesn’t erase the rapid run-up in prices that has stretched household budgets, a strain millions of Americans are still feeling.”
Even though food inflation was little changed in August, many items within the category showed month-over-month gains, such as eggs (4.8 percent), chicken (0.7 percent), beef and veal (0.3 percent), fresh fruits (0.7 percent), and milk (0.6 percent).
