Furious seniors react to Social Security rise for 2025

Furious seniors have expressed their frustration over next year’s Social Security increase, with many wondering how they will make a living.

The Social Security Administration announced last week that nearly 68 million Social Security recipients will see their benefits increase by 2.5 percent by 2025.

The increase, known as the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is the lowest since 2021: an average increase of $49 per month.

Older and senior Americans have since expressed disappointment with the increase, which they say does not reflect changing spending after years of high inflation.

“My Social Security disability check is currently only about $60 more than my rent. When I sign my new lease in January I will have a negative result,” one user wrote in a Reddit thread about the increase. “I’m hanging by a thread.”

On December 31, 2024, increased payments will also begin to nearly 7.5 million people receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) funds.

The increase in the COLA is based on a specific inflation measure, the Consumer Price Index for all urban wage earners and white-collar workers (CPI-W).

This tracks the price changes that urban wage earners and white-collar workers pay for a basket of common consumer goods and services.

The increase will increase retired workers’ average benefits by $49 by 2025, to about $1,976 per month.

It is the lowest annual increase since 2021, when beneficiaries received a 1.3 percent benefit increase.

In 2024 there was an increase of 3.2 percent, and in 2023 there was an increase of 8.7 percent – ​​the highest in four decades in response to record high inflation.

In 2022, benefits increased by 5.9 percent.

As the pace of inflation slows toward the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target, the COLA adjustment has moved closer to the historical norm.

According to the nonpartisan group The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), benefit increases have averaged about 2.6 percent over the past two decades.

But the group said the metric used to calculate the annual increase fails to measure inflation as seniors experience it.

TSCL Executive Director Shannon Benton said this year marks “another missed opportunity to provide seniors with the financial assistance they deserve” by changing the COLA calculation, which would “better reflect seniors’ changing spending.”

She proposed setting a minimum COLA of 3 percent.

“Our research shows that 67 percent of seniors rely on Social Security for more than half of their income and 62 percent worry that their retirement income won’t even cover essentials like groceries and medical bills,” Benton added to it.

And many seniors express exactly these concerns about making ends meet on social media.

“I’m grateful for any increase but it’s not enough, rent increases more than that every year, forget the increase in transportation, food and literally everything else, it won’t really make a big difference,” one user wrote Reddit .

Another said, “There will be many elders who will run out of things. Many live SS-check-to-SS-check as it is. With this high inflation it becomes difficult.’

“The COLA should be replaced with a cost increase that reflects seniors’ actual spending,” someone else said.

While inflation has fallen from 2022 highs, persistently high prices have hit household budgets – especially hard for people on fixed incomes in retirement.

According to Labor Department data, food prices have risen 20 percent in the past five years.

The Social Security Administration announced last week that nearly 68 million Social Security recipients will see their benefits increase by 2.5 percent by 2025

Many seniors also pointed out that this change could impact other benefits as well.

For example, for those enrolled in Medicare, Part B premiums are paid automatically from Social Security checks.

It is not yet known how much Part B premiums will increase in 2025, but if they increase by $10 per month, the $49 Social Security increase will be reduced to $39.

AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins said, “Even with this adjustment, we know that many older Americans who rely on Social Security will find it difficult to pay their bills. Social Security is the main source of income for 40 percent of older Americans.

“While this adjustment is important, we must do more to ensure that older Americans can continue to rely on Social Security. AARP continues to call on Congress to take bipartisan action to strengthen Social Security and secure a long-term solution that Americans can rely on.”