Change #1 The 2.8% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)

What Changed

The most widely anticipated Social Security announcement of any year is the annual cost-of-living adjustment, and 2026 is no exception. The Social Security Administration officially confirmed a 2.8% COLA for 2026 on October 24, 2025, based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2024 through the third quarter of 2025.

This adjustment applies automatically to all Social Security retirement benefits, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits — covering more than 75 million Americans in total.

In dollar terms, the 2.8% COLA translates to approximately $56 more per month for the average Social Security retirement beneficiary, raising the average monthly payment from roughly $2,015 in 2025 to approximately $2,071 in 2026.

For a married couple both receiving retirement benefits, the average combined monthly increase is about $88, bringing average combined benefits to roughly $3,300 per month. SSI recipients saw their maximum individual monthly payment increase by $27, from $967 to $994, with the adjusted payments beginning on December 31, 2025.

Key Insight: The 2026 COLA of 2.8% is higher than the 2025 adjustment of 2.5%, but still below the historical decade average of approximately 3.1%. For long-term retirement income planning, assuming a conservative average COLA of 2–2.5% per year is more prudent than extrapolating recent higher adjustments.