It seems like not too long ago, you could go to the grocery store with $100 and come home with a trunk's worth of items. Nowadays, if you spend $100 at the grocery store, it seems like you're back in a few days going through the whole process again. If you're looking to point the finger at someone, inflation is your guy.

To offset inflation and help retirees keep their purchasing power (theoretically), Social Security uses the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to adjust monthly Social Security benefits in line with inflation (again, theoretically). Official COLA data won't be released until October, but there are predictions available that can give retirees a jump-start on preparing for what it might be.

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Source Fool.com