When are COLA increases reflected in the SSA website?

[joeea]

When should I expect to see the effects of the most recent COLA increases reflected in my estimated benefits at ssa.gov?

 

[Sue J]

I check mine every month because I haven't started claiming benefits yet.

Mine showed a significant jump on 12/1/18 and another smaller increase on 1/1/19. I don't know why it was split like that. I saw similar increases last year when I checked on 12/1/17 and 1/1/18.

 

[SecondCor521]

I check mine every month because I haven't started claiming benefits yet.

Mine showed a significant jump on 12/1/18 and another smaller increase on 1/1/19. I don't know why it was split like that. I saw similar increases last year when I checked on 12/1/17 and 1/1/18.

I'd guess the larger one is when your earnings record was updated to reflect your better earnings history, and the smaller one is the annual COLA.

 

[donheff]

DW just started in January when she reach FRA. Her first payment will come this month. In retrospect it probably would have been better to start in November with a small reduction and pick up the 2.8% COLA.

 

[joeea]

DW just started in January when she reach FRA. Her first payment will come this month. In retrospect it probably would have been better to start in November with a small reduction and pick up the 2.8% COLA.

I don't understand. Why do you think that would have been better?
- the reduction would apply to each and every check
- the COLA is only effective starting in January
- the COLA will be included in her first payment, and everyone after

You seem to be implying that she didn't "pick up the COLA" by waiting until her FRA?

 

[Crabby Mike]

When should I expect to see the effects of the most recent COLA increases reflected in my estimated benefits at ssa.gov?

As I recall, I saw the increase in my statement a month or two ago. I can't see the statement any more, now that my benefits have been approved, but the approved amount (I turn 66 this month, and get my first deposit next month) is exactly what my statement said last time I looked, around the first of the year, so the COLA was included then.


According to SSA, the annual COLA is determined in October and implemented in payments starting in January, so I think it's safe to assume it's reflected in statements somewhere in between.

 

[donheff]

I don't understand. Why do you think that would have been better?
- the reduction would apply to each and every check
- the COLA is only effective starting in January
- the COLA will be included in her first payment, and everyone after

You seem to be implying that she didn't "pick up the COLA" by waiting until her FRA?

i May have it wrong but it looks to me like her calculation looks the same as it would have been without the 2.8% bump. If so, the small reduction for 2 months early would have been better.

 

[joeea]

i May have it wrong but it looks to me like her calculation looks the same as it would have been without the 2.8% bump. If so, the small reduction for 2 months early would have been better.

Nobody ever loses a COLA, so applying 2 months earlier would clearly have resulted in a smaller check.

 

[Sue J]

I'd guess the larger one is when your earnings record was updated to reflect your better earnings history, and the smaller one is the annual COLA.

I don't think so. The previous years earnings are updated in early February. At least that's when it showed up in my statements in Feb 2017 and Feb 2018. I just checked my current statement and my 2018 earnings are not yet recorded.

 

[Sue J]

I checked this morning and my 2018 earnings are now recorded.

 

[Octogirl]

I checked this morning and only 1 of my 2 sources of SS earnings are listed. Guess I'll wait another week and check it

 

[Crabby Mike]

Interesting ... I always assumed that they weren't updated until well after your tax return for the previous year was processed, because that's how mine were the last few years I worked. I guess that was because I was self-employed, and SSA would have had no idea what I'd made until then, as opposed to payroll deductions.

 

[sengsational]

As an aside, I use this page to get the numbers I use in my spreadsheets:


http://www.usinflationcalculator.co...and-annual-percent-changes-from-1913-to-2008/

The following CPI data was last updated by the government agency on January 11, 2019 and covers up to December 2018. The next inflation update for January has a scheduled release date of February 13, 2019.