Those holding their breath for a substantial bump in 2017’s cost-of-living-adjustment to Social Security benefits are most likely doing so in vain.
On October 18, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics will officially announce the Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment rate for 2017, which is derived from averaging the July, August, and September inflation numbers from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or the CPI-W index.
From there, actuaries average this year’s inflation increase with the previous Cost-of-Living Adjustment, which was made in the third quarter of 2014. There was no COLA in 2015.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
