We're still months away from the Social Security Administration's official announcement of the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), but some experts are already making predictions about where next year's adjustment may land.
The Senior Citizens League, a nongovernmental advocacy group, uses inflation data released monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to forecast future COLAs. The official announcement will come in October, as it's based on third-quarter inflation data. But there's already some rough news for retirees.
The Senior Citizens League predicts that the 2027 COLA will be around 2.8%. That figure is unchanged since January, when the organization forecast a 2.5% COLA for 2027.
The good news for retirees is that next year's adjustment will likely be roughly the same or perhaps even higher than the 2026 raise. The bad news is that that's because inflation has been surging again.
According to Consumer Price Index data published last week, the annual inflation rate reached a two-year high of 3.3%, up 0.9% over the last month. This is largely due to soaring oil prices caused by the war in Iran.
