It's Official: Here's Your Social Security Raise for 2023

• Social Security's 2023 cost-of-living adjustment is the largest that seniors are getting in decades.
• Although the number may be lower than previous estimates, it should help beneficiaries better cope with inflation.
• Whether the latest raise holds up in 2023 is yet to be determined.

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Inflation has wreaked havoc on consumers for a long time. It's hard for people who get the majority of their income from Social Security.

Social Security recipients saw their benefits increase at the beginning of the 21st century. The cost-of-living adjustment was seen as the largest one to come down in years.

There's been a lot of speculation about Social Security's cost of living adjustment. Some experts had projected a COLA as high as 9%. Social Security recipients were left wondering how much of a boost they would get after inflation data came in over the summer.

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We finally have an answer. The consumer price index data was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers is a subset of that index. Now that the data is available, we can say with certainty that seniors on Social Security will see a boost in their benefits.

How does an 8.7% COLA sound to you?

Social Security benefits will increase at the beginning of the next decade. If you were hoping for a bigger boost, you might be disappointed. It's still the largest since the 1980's.

For the first time in a long time, Social Security recipients should be able to keep their cost of living increase in full. There's a reason. If you enroll in Social Security and Medicare at the same time, your Part B premiums will be deducted from your benefits. Social Security recipients get less of a raise when Part B costs go up.

The cost of Medicare Part B is going to decrease in the years to come. Part B costs will not be cut into next year's cost of living allowance because the monthly Part B premium will fall.

How well will 2023's COLA stack up?

Is that the big question? Many Social Security recipients thought they were in a good position when they received their 5.9% COLA at the beginning of the year, only to have the rate of inflation go up much faster than the raise they received. Next year's cost of living adjustment may or may not give senior citizens more buying power.

There could be some good news. Consumers are being pushed to put the brakes on spending by the Federal Reserve. The fear is that rising rates will cause a recession. It could help bridge the supply-demand gap if consumer spending goes down.

Social Security recipients could get more out of their cost of living allowance if the rate of inflation slows down. For the first time in a long time, beneficiaries may be able to shore up their savings a bit and buy themselves some breathing room down the line.

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