What You Should Do Right Now: 6 Action Steps

1. Review your My Social Security account. Log in at ssa.gov/myaccount to verify your earnings record, check your current benefit estimate at various claiming ages, and confirm your credit count. Errors in your earnings record can reduce your future benefit — and the SSA recommends reviewing your record annually.

2. Recalculate your net Social Security income. If you are enrolled in Medicare, subtract your 2026 Part B premium ($202.90/month) from your gross benefit to understand your actual net monthly income. If you are subject to IRMAA surcharges, your true net benefit may be significantly lower than your COLA notice suggests.

3. Review your claiming age decision with a financial advisor. The finalization of FRA at 67 for those born in 1960 or later makes the claiming decision more consequential than ever. A Certified Financial Planner or retirement income specialist can model the break-even analysis and lifetime income projections for claiming at different ages based on your specific health, income, and tax situation.

4. Check your IRMAA exposure for 2026. The 2026 IRMAA determination is based on your 2024 tax return. If you had unusually high income in 2024 — from Roth conversions, required minimum distributions, capital gains, or other taxable events — you may be subject to IRMAA surcharges in 2026. Contact your tax advisor or financial planner if you believe your 2024 income may have pushed you above the IRMAA thresholds.

5. Understand the earnings test if you are working while collecting benefits. If you are receiving Social Security before your full retirement age and continuing to work, track your earnings against the 2026 limit of $24,480 to avoid unexpected benefit withholdings. Remember that withheld benefits are recredited at FRA — but proper planning can help you avoid the cash flow disruption of mid-year withholdings.

6. Include Social Security in your comprehensive retirement income plan. Social Security should be coordinated with your IRA, 401(k), pension, annuity, and investment income in the context of a comprehensive retirement income strategy. The interaction between Social Security income, Medicare costs, provisional income calculations for Social Security taxation, and required minimum distributions from tax-deferred accounts creates planning complexity that benefits from professional retirement income planning guidance.

The Bottom Line

The 2026 Social Security changes collectively represent one of the most significant annual updates to the program in recent memory. The 2.8% COLA is the highest adjustment since 2023 and provides meaningful, if partial, relief against inflation.

The finalization of the full retirement age at 67 for those born in 1960 or later marks the completion of a 40-year transition and locks in a new baseline against which every claiming decision will be made going forward.

The rise in the taxable wage base, the higher earnings test thresholds, and the updated credit earnings requirement all reflect the program’s ongoing recalibration to national economic conditions.
But the most important takeaway from 2026’s Social Security changes is not any single adjustment in isolation — it is the interaction between all of them, and between Social Security and the broader retirement income ecosystem of Medicare costs, tax rules, and investment account decisions.

The difference between a well-coordinated Social Security and retirement income strategy and an uninformed one can easily amount to tens of thousands of dollars over a retirement — and for many Americans, it can mean the difference between a financially secure retirement and one that requires difficult compromises.

Take the time to understand how these 2026 changes apply to your specific situation, review your My Social Security account, and if you have not already done so, work with a qualified Certified Financial Planner, elder law attorney, or retirement income specialist to develop a comprehensive, integrated plan that maximizes the lifetime value of your Social Security benefits while coordinating them with every other element of your retirement income picture. The decisions you make about Social Security are among the most financially consequential of your retirement — they deserve the attention and expertise that complexity requires.