Social Security 2018 – 2019

The 2019 Social Security will see a 2.8% cost-of-living increase, the most substantial increase since 2011. A 2.8% increase is about $67 a month or $1,461 to the average recipient.

See our COLA increase watch for the most recent updates on COLA.

“The 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 62 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2019. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2018. ” ~ SSA statement

The maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $132,900 from $128,700, a 3.5% increase.

2019 Social Security and SSI Effective & Payment Dates:

• Social Security benefits will be effective beginning with December 2018 benefits, which are payable in January 2019.
• Federal SSI payment levels will begin on December 28, 2018.

To calculate the 2019 COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustments) increase, if any, the average of the indices of July, August, and September 2018 are be compared with the 2017 3rd quarter average. The end result is the percentage by which Social Security benefits are adjusted. This is referred to as the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).

2018 Social Security and SSI Effective & Payment Dates:

• Social Security benefits will be effective beginning with December 2017 benefits, which are payable in January 2018.
• Federal SSI payment levels will begin on December 29, 2017.

The 2018 Social Security saw 2.0% cost-of-living increase, the most substantial increase since 2012. A 2.0% increase is about $25 a month to the average recipient. Higher gas prices and other cost increases due to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are seen as contributors to the reaching the 2 percent increase mark. Other contributing factors to the increase was an increase in housing and rent costs and partially offset by a decline in wireless phone service and new and used vehicle prices.