The Social Security Administration will officially announce the 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on Oct. 10, 2024. It might seem like an arbitrary date to you, but it's not. That's when the government releases the September figure for the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

Seniors collecting Social Security receive a raise almost every year to help their checks keep up with the rising cost of living. The government is still a few weeks away from finalizing the numbers to calculate next year's cost-of-living adjustment,

The latest cost-of-living-adjustment estimate for Social Security benefits next year is expected to be about 2.5%, according to the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League

The inflation data for August gives us a pretty good idea about the likely magnitude of Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025. This automatic indexing of benefits to keep up with rising prices — always a wonderful feature of our Social Security program — has been particularly valuable in light of the recent bout of inflation.

Following the July inflation report, the nonpartisan senior advocacy group The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) was forecasting a 2.57% COLA for 2025 (which would round up to 2.6%). Likewise, independent Social Security and Medicare policy analyst Mary Johnson, who recently retired from TSCL, had estimated a 2.6% COLA for next year.

The purpose of COLAs is to help Social Security beneficiaries maintain their buying power in the face of inflation. Over time, living costs tend to rise naturally. Keeping Social Security payments stagnant would likely force those who rely on them into poverty through the years.