Because so many older Americans get most or all of their income from Social Security, a lot of people ages 62 and over depend heavily on annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to keep up with their living expenses.

The latest cost-of-living projection for 2026 shows that seniors could see less of an increase than last year, according to the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League

Retirees who count on Social Security should prepare for a relatively meager cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to their benefits in 2026. Learn More: 3 Changes That Could Be Coming to Social

COLA will not be determined until October 2025 because it depends on inflation data from the third quarter, which is collected between July and September. First, a 2.3% COLA could accelerate the timeline to Social Security Trust Fund depletion,

According to non-partisan group, The Senior Citizens League, 2026's cost of living adjustment increases will not likely keep up with inflation. Here's what the prediction shows.

People who collect Social Security, or who are gearing up to retire, tend to pay attention to one key aspect of the program -- cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs. Those tend to be all over the news because they have a direct impact on seniors' buying power from year to year.

The actual cost-of-living-adjustment won't be announced until October, but early predictions say the increase will be a smaller percentage than the 2025 increase.

The nonpartisan Senior Citizens League expects the COLA to be 2.3% for 2026, based on a forecast that inflation will drop throughout the coming year. Another forecast by independent Social Security and Medicare analyst Mary Johnson puts the expected COLA increase at 2.1%.

The 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) began with benefits payable to retired Social Security beneficiaries when their January 2025 payments arrived.

Starting in January, Social Security recipients saw a 2.5% increase in their monthly payments as the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) took effect. Benefits for February were sent out Wednesday. Social Security payments are sent on the second, third and fourth Wednesday of the month, depending on the recipient's birth date.