Social Security may feel like a background issue until you’re close to claiming it, but changes to annual benefit increases can have a real impact on retirement income, especially for people who expect Social Security to play a meaningful role in their monthly budget. With the recent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2026, now is a smart time to understand what’s changing and how those adjustments actually work behind the scenes.
In a recent article, Suze Orman broke down what the 2026 Social Security increase means, and highlighted an often-overlooked detail: These annual adjustments apply even if you haven’t started collecting benefits yet.
