It will be announced today how much millions of people who get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will see their payments go up in 2025.
Now that the cost of living adjustment (COLA) has been confirmed, everyone who will be affected by it needs to know what the expected inflation rate is and how it will affect them over the next year.
This information could help Americans better prepare for their finances in the coming year. The Social Security Administration (SSA) generally makes changes to make sure that people who get benefits keep up with inflation.
The COLA was set at 3.2% for 2024, but experts think it will be less in 2025 because inflation is going down. About 68 million Americans depend on Social Security payments worth a total of $1.5 trillion right now.
Social Security makes new SSI increase official for next year
On October 10, 2024, the Social Security Administration is likely to make the public announcement about the 2025 COLA. The exact number will be released on that date, but experts think it will be slightly off by about 2.5%.
Beneficiaries should expect an average monthly raise of about $48, which would bring the average payment for retired workers up to $1,966 if this prediction comes true.
The SSA has linked annual COLA increases to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) since 1975. The CPI-W measures changes in the prices of everyday goods and services.
One of the most important things to know about Social Security is the COLA raise, because this yearly change could be good or bad for people who get the benefit.
For example, a lower COLA can hurt retirees’ finances because the yearly adjustments might not keep up with inflation, which means that Social Security benefits are worth less. This can make it hard for retired people to take care of their basic needs.
Retirees should save more money and actively seek out extra benefits to avoid future financial problems. The CPI-W statistics from the third quarter of 2024 will be used to figure out the COLA for 2025.
Recent figures show that inflation is slowly going down. For example, the August 2024 CPI showed that average prices had only gone up 2.5% over the previous year. This was the smallest annual rise since early 2021.
It is important to remember that over time, inflation has caused recipients’ payments to rise by a large amount. Here are the COLA numbers for the last five years to give you some background:
| Year | COLA increase |
| 2020 | 1.60% |
| 2021 | 1.30% |
| 2022 | 5.90% |
| 2023 | 8.70% |
| 2024 | 3.20% |
It is important to remember that there have been times when there have been no gains at all, like in 2009, 2010, and 2015. Because of rising costs of living, these changes are meant to help seniors keep their buying power.
Also, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has gone up by 24.6% since 2021. This means that the 2.5% change for 2025 will likely be big because it will be almost the same as the 23.4% total price increase.
People who get Social Security will get a formal notice about their new benefits in December 2024. However, starting in mid-November, you will also be able to access details through your My Social Security Account.
How much will SSI payments increase in 2025?
Since the Bureau of Labour Statistics finally announced the 2.5 percent COLA raise for next year, people who get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will start getting the following payments in January 2025:
| SSI benefits | Social Security checks | (2,5%) COLA increase | Extra income |
| On average | $698 | $715 | $17 |
| Individuals | $943 | $967 | $24 |
| Couples | $1,415 | $1,450 | $35 |
| Essential person | $472 | $484 | $12 |
Thank you for your attention. This year, SSI recipients will get their extra money on December 31st instead of January 1st because January 1st is a holiday and that is when benefits are normally paid.
Also see:-Social Security Announces Cost of Living Adjustment for 2025 – Official Increase of 2.5%
