The U.S. Social Security Administration releases 2026 Cost of Living Adjustments: A Guide to Monthly Check Changes for Retirees
Social Security's COLA isn't decided arbitrarily by the SSA. Its legal basis comes from the 1972 Social Security Amendments, and it has been automatically adjusted annually since 1975.The purpose of the adjustment is to prevent inflation from eroding the purchasing power of retirement benefits. Specifically, COLA is linked to the **CPI-W (Civil Service Price Index)**. SSA takes the average CPI-W for the third quarter (July, August, and September) and compares it with the average for the same period of the previous year; the resulting percentage is the COLA for the following year.
