COLA Report

 I have an update from earlier this month from the nonprofit Senior Citizens League. They published their report on its estimate for the upcoming Social Security cost-of-living-adjustment, or COLA. Based on the latest inflation numbers, it now predicts that the 2024 COLA could come in at 3.1%. The COLA is calculated by the Social Security Administration each year using inflation data. The goal is to make sure that inflation doesn't completely erode the purchasing power of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits, which reach about 67 million Americans every month. It's important to keep in mind that these are just predictions. The official COLA won’t be locked in until October, and lots can change between now and then. New data from the U.S. Labor Department shows that inflation is on a slow decline in 2023, coming in at 4.9% for the month of April. But the Senior Citizens League notes that while inflation is moderating, prices themselves haven’t necessarily come down. COLA is a way to defend retirees from inflation, but it only increases purchasing power when it keeps up with the price of goods they need to buy. And we all know that’s been tough with some prices going up way more than inflation.