Social Security's 2024 cost-of-living increase predicted to shrink.

The Senior Citizens League estimates that the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2024 could be 2.7%, far short of the 8.7% increase in benefits seniors received this year, as inflation continues to cool. The smaller COLA may not be enough for the more than 70 million retired senior citizens and disabled workers who are still struggling with rising prices, a persistent problem with how COLAs are measured. The actual COLA is calculated by averaging together the CPI-W for the third quarter of the year and then comparing that figure with the same data from last year. The Social Security Administration is expected to announce the COLA in mid-October after the release of the September consumer price index data.