2025 COLA Benefits: Here’s How Much the Average Benefit Could Go Up at 62, 67, and 70

2025 COLA Benefits: The amount of the benefit increase that seniors will receive in their Social Security checks the next year has not yet been formally announced. However, senior advocacy group The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) predicts that the benefits increase will probably total 2.6%.

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Workers and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) data as of right now served as the basis for this estimate. In reality, the third quarter of the year’s average CPI-W data is used to compute the COLA. Since that isn’t yet accessible, TSCL is basing its prediction on the CPI-W as of right now as well as anticipated future inflation.

Even though things could change, existing trends suggest that the Social Security COLA in 2025 will likely be in the range of TSCL’s forecast amount.

To what extent might the typical retirement benefit increase?

Age	Current Average Retirement Benefit	Average Retirement Benefit After COLA Is Applied in 2025	Change in Monthly Social Security Benefit
62	$1,298.26	$1,332.01	$33.75
67	$1,563.06	$1,603.70	$40.64
70	$2,037.54	$2,090.52	$52.98

Your present Social Security benefit amount will dictate how much the COLA will raise your benefits. Let’s look at the average retirement benefits for seniors 62, 67, and 70 years old using the 2.6% rise to get a reasonable idea of how much more the average retiree may earn in benefits the next year.

2025 Social Security COLA: What are the Changes and Benefits?

Now, these benefits increase estimates contain some error. This is true since, instead of being applied to your current benefit, the COLA is applied to your standard benefit, sometimes referred to as your primary insurance amount, or PIA.

You would have received that amount if you had taken your initial payout at full retirement age. Your updated PIA is next adjusted up or down to show whether you earned delayed retirement credits or early filing penalties, depending on when you started making your payments.

You will also forfeit some of your raise if Medicare rates increase if, like most seniors, your premiums are paid directly out of Social Security.

Because of these two factors, even though you are now receiving the average Social Security benefit for your age group, your actual benefits may vary. Nevertheless, this can still give you a decent indication of how much the average retiree will earn once the COLA is applied the next year—that is if there isn’t a significant shift in the CPI-W that causes the COLA to be significantly higher or lower than projections currently indicate.

Is there a significant rise in 2025 COLA benefits?

According to Yahoo Finance, even though a 2.6% COLA would be less than the recent benefit increases, it would still be a nice boost compared to the gains made in the last ten years or so. Regretfully, a significant increase in benefits isn’t always beneficial.

Social Security COLA Estimate for 2025 Surges Due to Inflation: What You Need to Know

After all, this is merely an increase intended to prevent you from losing purchasing power due to inflation rather than a true “raise” that employees may receive for their performance on the job.

Less COLA would mean that inflation has slowed down for retirees who also might depend on savings to supplement Social Security, which could lose value when prices rise rapidly. Thus, remember that even if you do wind up with a sizable excess of money the following year, you will only be able to maintain your standard of living at a greater cost.