Social Security COLA conundrum

“The 2026 COLA is likely to be 2.7%, according to a recent projection by The Senior Citizens League. That’s a notch above this year’s COLA of 2.5%, which bumped up the average monthly benefit by roughly $50 for retired workers, and applies to more than 70 million retired senior citizens and disabled workers.”

But does this capture the lived experience of retirees living with Trump tariffs?

“The Nationwide data found that 3 in 10 retirees are already relying more heavily on their savings or retirement accounts, and nearly 1 in 5 say it has become more difficult to access or manage their benefits this year.

“You could make the case that tariffs are likely to drive up inflation more than Social Security COLA actually rises or can cover,” said Mary Johnson, a Social Security expert.

“Food costs are likely to continue to climb due to several issues other than tariffs, too, including weather, geopolitical disasters, and lack of farm workers,” she added. “And there is a wild card: There are staff changes at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that could potentially affect the accuracy of consumer data.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/will-the-social-security-cola-increase-account-for-tariffs-seniors-are-worried-131158971.html

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