Social Security's 2026 COLA Could Be the Worst in Years, but Millions of Retirees Will Get a Big Financial Boost Anyway

Each year, millions of retirees wait anxiously for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to announce the new annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The COLA determines how much Social Security benefits will increase the following year and helps retirees, many of whom rely on Social Security for all or a significant part of their income, budget for the following year.While it's still months before the 2026 COLA is announced, recent data suggests retirees could be looking at the lowest COLA in years. However, millions of retirees will get a big financial boost anyway.The COLA is always determined based on inflation data from the third quarter of each year. Unlike the broader market, which relies heavily each month on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), the SSA relies on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). While the CPI measures the change in prices for 93% of the U.S. population, the CPI-W only covers about 29% of the population and measures expenses more common to the blue-collar workforce.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool