There's a new forecast of the Social Security boost retirees should expect in 2027 - and it's a huge disappointment for the millions of Americans who depend on their bi-monthly benefit checks.
Every year, the government adjusts the amount of money it pays in Social Security benefits to keep up with rising prices.
Older Americans absolutely rely on this so-called 'cost of living adjustment' or COLA, since more than 40 percent of them depend on Social Security alone for all of their retirement income.
The new estimate of the forthcoming official 2027 cost-of-living adjustment shows the average Social Security benefit check will only rise by $56, or roughly 2.8 percent.
The average benefits check for retired workers would increase to $2,081 from $2,025.
That's the same COLA adjustment as the one seen in 2026, despite the astonishing price hikes we've seen recently throughout the US economy.
'Seniors tell us over and over that their benefits don't go as far as they used to,' said Shannon Benton, executive director of The Senior Citizens League, which published the new estimate.
The new Senior Citizens League estimate comes after the government's March inflation and prices report card gave the US economy an 'F', showing that prices jumped by almost 1 percent last month.
That pushed the annual inflation rate up to 3.3 percent, its highest level in two years - and well above the forecasted COLA hike.
The Iran war is the main culprit behind soaring prices, as fighting in the Middle East sent energy prices up nearly 11 percent on the month.
But forget the energy shock, the craziest price increases aren't just at the pump, but also essential healthcare costs like the nearly 10 percent 2026 increase in Medicare part B premiums and deductibles.
"Nearly everyone enrolled in Medicare pays a monthly premium for Part B coverage,' warned Suze Orman, best-selling personal finance author and two-time Emmy Award-winning television host.
And if you're a younger retiree under age 65 on a healthcare marketplace plan, the expiration of enhanced tax credits has caused net premiums to rise by an average of 136 percent in 2026.
Electricity prices are up 4.6 percent on an annual basis, and forget flying to see your grandkids, airfares rose almost 15 percent on a yearly basis in March.
'Americans are right to worry about our current COLA projection,' said Benton. 'You'd be hard-pressed to find a middle-class or working-class American who thinks the economy is doing well right now, especially as oil prices rise.'
The Social Security Administration sets the annual cost-of-living adjustment on the basis of the prices paid for a basket of items - like food, clothes and fuel - that's tracked by the monthly inflation report.
To calculate the adjustment, they take the prices from July, August, and September of this year and compare them to the prices from the same three months last year.
If things cost more now than they did then, you get a Social Security benefit increase to help you keep up.
The Social Security Administration publishes its official COLA update in the middle of October, after getting the September inflation report.
The higher payments officially start in January of the new year - and if prices didn't go up at all, your check stays the same size - it won't ever shrink just because of the math.
The Senior Citizens League issues a new forecast of the next COLA for Social Security each month using their own statistical model, adjusting in response to economic conditions.