Social Security Checks to Grow

Social Security beneficiaries could get a boost of 6% or more in their checks in January, as a rise in inflation could make the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2022 the highest in decades.
Several estimates put the COLA around 6% or slightly higher. The adjustment will not be officially calculated and released until later this month. But it increasingly appears that the COLA for 2022 will be the highest paid since 1983, when it was 7.4%.
In 2021, the increase was 1.3% or about $20.00 a month for individuals. A 6.2% increase would mean a $96.00 monthly raise.
Rising prices in 2021 are the driving force behind the higher COLA estimates. Higher prices reflect the disarray caused by the pandemic.
The COLA increase is sorely needed, as higher prices are exacting a significant toll on retirees. Experts say, “Those with modest savings who rely most on Social Security benefits are the ones in real trouble.”
The COLA depends on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, a measure of the monthly price change in a basket of goods and services, such as food, energy and medical care. Social Security COLAs for the past 10 years have averaged 1.7%, ranging from no increase in 2015 to 3.6% in 2011.