The 2026 COLA increase will be confirmed on October 15, 2025. Then, Social Security recipients will need to wait until January 2026 to collect this monthly boost. Only Supplemental Security Income recipients will receive their Cost-of-Living Adjustment increase in December. This is because their January 1 payment will need to be issued in advance.
January 1 is New Year’s Day, and it is a Federal holiday. Therefore, Social Security will need to send the COLA increase and the monthly payment on the previous business day. Experts from The Senior Citizens League have made a monthly prediction, and so far, it is a boost of 2.6%. This is the latest projection, which is up from 2.5%. As a matter of fact, there have been minor changes, and the Cost-of-Living Adjustment has scarcely increased.
2026 COLA projection increases to 2.6%
Several important events have recently taken place. For example, the One Big Beautiful Bill passes. The Senior Citizen League has made a prediction of just 2.6% which has gone up from 2.1% in January 2025.
As you can see, the boost has been very low in just 6 months. Unless the inflation starts to grow rapidly due to unexpected events, it is more than likely that Social Security recipients will benefit from a small COLA increase in 2026.
The positive news is that the COLA has been gradually going up for five consecutive months. TSCL research claims that about 7.3 million American seniors get by on less than 1,000 dollars per month.
Therefore, if there were a 2.6% COLA increase, there would be a boost of $26. For example, if your Social Security payment is worth $1,000 in 2025, after the Cost-of-Living Adjustment, it would become $1,026.
2026 COLA may boost benefits this much per year
If The Senior Citizens League’s prediction of 2.6% becomes true, Social Security recipients could collect $26 extra per month if they receive a $1,000 payment. Since each recipient collects 12 direct deposits or checks per year, that would amount to a possible $312 in 12 months for a $1,000 payment.
Bear in mind that the COLA increases benefit Americans on Social Security RSDI payments as well as Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries in the United States.
So, if you are receiving retirement, survivor or Disability Insurance benefits, you will benefit from the final and official COLA figure which will be unveiled in the fall, or what is the same, on October 15, 2025.
This will be confirmed once the Bureau of Labor Statistics announces the CPI-W figure for September in mid-October. Another thing to take into account if you qualify for a COLA boost is the fact that the higher your monthly payment is, the higher your increase will be. See some examples below with the latest prediction:
- recipient with a $500 payment: amount after the possible 2.6% boost of $513
- recipient with a $750 payment: amount after the possible 2.6% boost of $769.50
- recipient with a $1,500 payment: amount after the possible 2.6% boost of $1,539
- recipient with a $2,000 payment: amount after the possible 2.6% boost of $2,052
Source: https://seniorsleague.org/assets/TSCL-COLA-Projection-7.25.pdf
