In 2026, retirees may see a smaller cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for their 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Social Security benefits.

The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a nonpartisan senior group, projected 2026 COLA to be 2.1% in their recently released their monthly estimates.

This would mark a decline from the COLA increases in recent years and reflects a slowdown in inflation. The COLA was 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:2.5% in 2025, 3.2% in 2024, and 8.7% in 2023.

The COLA is made annually and is meant to protect people's Social Security benefits from being eroded by 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inflation. The Social Security Administration typically announces the official COLA adjustment in October.

Inflation Has Cooled, Yet Remains Persistent

Although inflation has fallen from it's peak of more than 9% in the summer of 2022, it's proven stubborn.

The TSCL based its estimate on the latest CPI report, which showed an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:uptick in inflation from the year prior. COLA is tied to the CPI-W, or the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. For December, the CPI-W was 2.8%, up from 2.6% in November.

"While slowing inflation is a good thing, it doesn’t mean prices will fall—just that they’ll rise more slowly. This leaves many seniors facing a budget shortfall," states the TSCL release.

And recent data indicates that a high cost of living has burdened some retirees. Nearly one-third of retirees reported that they were spending more than 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:they could afford, a recent survey showed.