Social Security payments will grow by 5.9% in 2022. This is the biggest Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in nearly 40 years. The program will also be tweaked in several important ways that could affect the Social Security payments you receive or how much you pay into the system.
- Social Security payments will increase by 5.9%.
- The earnings subject to the Social Security tax will climb to $147,000.
- Social Security beneficiaries who are younger than their full retirement age can earn up to $19,560 before their benefit is temporarily withheld.
- The full retirement age will increase to 67 for those born in 1960.
- The Social Security Administration has redesigned Social Security statements to include more information.
- Here’s a look at how much more you can expect from Social Security in 2022 and other ways the program will change in the coming year.
Social Security Payments Will Increase
The average Social Security benefit for retired workers is expected to climb by $92 to $1,657 per month as a result of the cost-of-living adjustment. Married couples in which both spouses receive benefits will see an estimated $154 increase to an average payment of $2,753 per month in 2022. {However, part or your cost-of-living adjustment could be used to pay for Medicare premiums.|Part or your cost-of-living adjustment could be used to pay for Medicare premiums.}
The maximum possible Social Security benefit for someone who retires at full retirement age will be $3,345 in 2022, up $197 from 2021.
Social Security payments are adjusted each year to keep pace with inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The 5.9% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2022 is significantly larger than the 1.3% COLA in 2021. Previous Social Security COLAs have ranged from zero in 2010, 2011 and 2016 to 14.3% in 1980. The last time retirees received a cost-of-living adjustment that exceeded 5% was in January 2009, when the COLA was 5.8%.|Social Security payments are adjusted each year to keep pace with inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The 5.9% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2022 is significantly larger than the 1.3% COLA in 2021.
The Social Security Administration will post personalized COLA notices online beginning in December 2021. You can view the benefit amount you will receive next year by logging into your my Social Security account.