Seniors on Social Security Could Be in Line for Their Largest Raise in Decades

The monthly Social Security benefit seniors start out collecting isn't the exact benefit they're stuck with for life. That's because those benefits are subject to annual raises, or cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs).

The purpose of COLAs is to help seniors retain their buying power when inflation strikes. Think about someone who's been on Social Security since 1991. The general cost of living has increased substantially over the past 30 years, so it stands to reason that benefits, too, would need to increase to give seniors a chance at keeping up.

The problem, however, is that in recent years, COLAs have been notoriously stingy. In 2021, seniors got a 1.3% raise. The year before, their benefits were bumped up by 1.6%. In fact, since 2010, the largest annual raise seniors got was a 3.6% boost in 2012. But in both 2011 and 2016, seniors got no COLA at all.

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Source Fool.com