Social Security COLA to decrease in 2024, forecasts predict.

Social Security recipients may only receive a 3.1% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2024, according to the Senior Citizens League, following this year's 8.7% hike and 2022's increase of 5.9%. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) is used to adjust benefits annually, but it has been criticized as an inaccurate depiction of seniors' actual spending. More than half of older Americans said this year's large COLA hasn't yet made them whole, surveys by the league have found. Experts say Social Security recipients have lost buying power over the years, partly as the COLA may underestimate medical expenses and other costs that seniors incur.