Social Security's cost of living adjustment set at 3.2% — less than half of the current year's increase

The Social Security Administration said its 2024 cost-of-living adjustment will be 3.2%, a much smaller bump than the 8.7% increase seniors and other beneficiaries received this year. But with inflation still far from its pre-pandemic levels, seniors and other recipients may be at risk of losing financial ground with the smaller adjustment, experts said. 

Next year's COLA, while lower than the current year, is still above the historical norm for the annual adjustment, which has averaged 2.6% over the past two decades, according to the Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group for older Americans. But many seniors are reporting that they are falling behind, with the annual adjustment failing to keep up with their actual spending, 

"What we are hearing from our surveys is the household budgets went up by more than the amount of their COLA — that is what is worrying people today," said Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at the Senior Citizens League. "We still have inflation with us."