Ask Rusty Webinar: What Does the 2026 COLA Increase Mean for Your Social Security?

All seniors are anxious to get that annual increase to their Social Security benefit, which happens in most years.  But it seems that the annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) we receive is never enough to offset the inflation we have all experienced in the preceding year.  And this will likely ring true for many, as notices from the Social Security Administration start hitting your mailbox in early December. Those notices will tell you what your new monthly Social Security payments will be, but here’s a spoiler alert: what you end up getting in COLA dollars may not be as much as you expect!

There are reasons for that, notably that Medicare’s Part B premium for 2026 is going up by nearly $18 per month. And since your Medicare premium is deducted from your Social Security payment, that increase will consume a good portion of your Social Security COLA increase. The net result is that your COLA dollars will likely not be as much as you expect. You can either be happy about getting a 2.8% bump in your Social Security benefit, or angry that it isn’t enough.  But it is certainly better than nothing, even if it doesn’t fully offset the higher prices you are now paying. Sound complicated?  Well, this webinar presented by the AMAC Foundation’s certified Social Security Advisor Russ (Rusty) Gloor, will help you decipher the SSA’s notice about your 2026 Social Security COLA increase and benefit amount.

Register Here