Social Security benefits to rise 8.7% in 2023
The Social Security Administration has announced that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for approximately 70m Americans by 8.7% in 2023. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January, marking the largest increase in 40 years. For the government, this supersize cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) means paying out more money to retirees, whose ranks are swelling as baby boomers retire. For retirees, however, the COLA will “be a welcome relief to people when they get it this January,” said David Certner, legislative counsel at AARP. The annual increase is tied to the average inflation for July, August and September, using the Labor Department’s consumer-price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers. The Social Security Administration also said the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax will increase to $160,200 in 2023, from $147,000 this year.  Next year’s increase will be the largest since 1981, when benefits rose 11.2%, according to Social Security Administration data.
Accounting Today   Wall Street Journal