- A record 8.7% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment will mean bigger monthly benefit checks in 2023.
- Here’s how to gauge the size of your increase.
Social Security benefits will go up by more than $140 per month on average in 2023, as a record 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment kicks in.
Exactly how much of an increase the approximately 70 million Americans who rely on the program for income will see will vary.
More than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries will see their benefit checks increase in January, while more than 7 million Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries will see bigger payments starting on Dec. 30.
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The average retiree benefit will go up by $146 per month — to $1,827 in 2023 from $1,681 in 2022. Meanwhile, the average disability benefit will increase by $119 per month — to $1,483 in 2023 from $1,364 in 2022.
Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, beneficiaries will see the standard individual monthly payment increase $73 per month, to $914 per month in 2023 from $841 this year.
The Social Security Administration will provide notices in the coming months that include your new monthly benefit for 2023.
To find out exactly how much you stand to receive sooner, you can calculate the change on your own:
Multiply your net Social Security benefit by 8.7%, the 2023 cost-of-living adjustment.
To get the most accurate read, add your Medicare Part B premium to your net Social Security benefit and then multiply that sum by the 2023 COLA, recommends Joe Elsasser, an Omaha, Nebraska-based certified financial planner and founder and president of Covisum, a provider of Social Security claiming software.
That’s in contrast to other years, where it would usually be more appropriate to instead deduct your premium for Medicare Part B, Elsasser said.
Premium payments for Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient care, typically come directly out of Social Security benefit checks.
Those premiums will be about 3% lower in 2023, with the standard monthly premium dropping $5.20 per month, to $164.90 in 2023 from $170.10 in 2022.
Those who have higher incomes, based on tax returns from two years earlier, will pay more than the standard monthly rate.
Those income-related adjustment amounts in 2023 will start at $97,000 for single filers and $194,000 for married couples who file jointly.
