The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced a 2.8 percent increase to benefits for 2019, on Thursday. This is welcome news to the more than 62 million Americans who currently receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
According to the Social Security Administration’s press release, the 2.8 percent increase in 2019 is a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Eight million SSI recipients will see their payments increase on December 31, 2018. The increase is the largest recipients have seen since 2012, when SSA determined that a 3.6 percent increase was appropriate.
This means that, on average, recipients will receive an additional $39 per month, or $468 per year.
Beginning in January, additional adjustments are likely according to the release.
One such change is that for the first year ever, people who receive Social Security payments will receive a notice of their COLA adjustment online through their My Social Security account. To access your Social Security account online, please go here: https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/.
Accessing your account online is also the best way to determine how these changes will affect your income and receive updates regarding future changes.
Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages, the release reads. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $132,900 from $128,400.
This COLA will be the largest increase single year increase since 2012. Additional information, including information about expected income amounts, is available in this fact sheet provided by the Social Security Administration.
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