Social Security benefits are adjusted for inflation every year through the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. The Social Security Administration calculates it from the change in a specific inflation index (the CPI-W) over the third quarter of the year, then announces the figure in October. The increase takes effect with January payments.
For 2026, the COLA is 2.8%. On an average retirement benefit that works out to roughly an extra $56 per month. The same percentage is applied to every beneficiary's payment, so it raises a small check and a large check by the same proportion.
A key point for the claiming decision: the COLA does not reward you for claiming early or late. It is applied to whatever your benefit is, no matter when you started. That is why comparing claim ages in today's dollars still gives you the right answer — inflation lifts all of the options together and does not change which one comes out ahead.
Because the COLA is the one figure on this site that changes annually, we update it every October when the SSA announces the new number. If you want a reminder when the next adjustment lands, the calculator offers an optional notice. Until then, the current calculator uses the 2026 figures.
Updated July 2026