Inflation is something that affects all countries, although not always equally. Within the United States we find that inflation is wreaking havoc on the economy. This means that checks such as Supplemental Security Income or other Social Security checks may not be enough to live on. For that reason, the COLA increases all Social Security checks a little each year, with Supplemental Security Income included.
The increase in these benefits depends on several factors. Those factors are primarily related to general price inflation. Therefore, the higher the inflation, the higher the increase next year. However, it is true that sometimes inflation does not really correspond to the COLA increase. Still, what matters is that every year the Supplemental Security Income goes up a little bit to balance the scales somewhat.
This means that we will have to add a few dollars more to the current maximum Supplemental Security Income of $914. The final amount is still unknown, since it depends on the COLA itself. Moreover, the increase is not an exact amount, but a percentage. This means that every American with this benefit will see the same increase in his or her monthly check.
How do I apply for the Supplemental Security Income increase?
The annual COLA increase is something that is done automatically. This means that we do not need to do anything, a priori, in order to receive more dollars the following year. However, we may encounter problems with the increase in our Supplemental Security Income. In that case we would have to claim.
In any case, it is true that this type of automation usually works very well. Since the increases are applied to all Social Security checks, the increase in the SSI payment is automatic. Therefore, we can rest assured that we will have an increase next year, although we will not yet know the exact amount.
What will the 2024 COLA be?
The increase in each and every Social Security Administration check will come in next year’s first payment. This payment will be the first Supplemental Security Income payment of the month. This is because this payment is always sent on the 1st of the month. The amount of the increase is still a mystery.
To calculate the COLA increase we must take into account inflation for the months of July, August and September. With the price increase of these days the Social Security Administration will determine the increase of the checks.
The official announcement will be in October, as it is every year. Only at that time will we officially find out how much all Supplemental Security Income and Social Security retirement payments will increase. Therefore, we can only wait and see what happens with inflation to determine whether we will have a huge record COLA or not.