By Leada Gore
The estimate for 2025′s cost-of-living-adjustment for Social Security recipients is inching upwards ever so slightly.
Projections from the non-partisan advocacy group The Senior Citizens League show the long-term COLA forecast is 2.66% in 2025. That’s a slight increase from March’s 2.6% and 2.4% in February.
This year, Social Security recipients received a 3.2% boost in monthly benefits, a significant drop from the previous year’s 8.7%.
The estimates come as the April Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, come in at 3.4%, slightly lower than the inflation trends indicated last month. Final figures for next year’s increase could change significantly, because it’s based on the average inflation rate during the third quarter of the year – July, August and September – then compared to the same period of the year prior.
Medicare Part B impact
Another element will be the impact of Medicare Part B increases that eat away at any COLA.
“For 2024, the average Social Security benefit rose by $50 and after subtracting $9.80 to cover Medicare Part B Premium increases, the total change in benefits came out to just $40.20 a month. With the forecast of a 2.66% COLA for 2025, it appears seniors will continue to suffer financial insecurity as much next year as they have this year,” Shannon Benton, Executive Director of TSCL, said.
“In The Senior Citizens League’s 2024 Senior Survey, a concerning trend emerges as 71% of respondents highlight an increase in household costs exceeding the 3.2% COLA they received for 2023,” she added.
Last week’s Medicare Trustee report showed estimated Part B premiums would climb by $10.30 a month in 2025 to $185. That’s an increase of 5.9% from $174.70 this year.
