Do I still get COLA increases on Social Security if I've delayed claiming past FRA?

Yes, you absolutely get COLA increases even while you're delaying benefits past your FRA! The SSA applies the annual COLA to your benefit amount regardless of whether you're collecting yet or not. So when you finally do claim, your benefit will include all COLAs that occurred since you turned 62. This is on top of the 8% per year delayed retirement credits you're earning by waiting past your FRA. It's actually a really smart strategy if you can afford to wait.

i waited til 70 to collect and got all the colas plus the extra 24% for waiting past my fra. best decision ever. now getting $4150/mo which woulda been like $2800 if i took it at 67

The previous answers are correct, but I wanted to add some technical details. The COLA is applied to your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is the benefit amount you'd receive at your Full Retirement Age. Then, when you decide to claim benefits, the delayed retirement credits (DRCs) are applied on top of your COLA-adjusted PIA. For example, if your PIA at 67 was $3,000, and there's a 3% COLA the following year, your PIA becomes $3,090. If you wait until 68 to claim, you'll get that $3,090 plus 8% in DRCs, making your monthly benefit approximately $3,337. If there's another 2.5% COLA the next year, your PIA becomes $3,167, and claiming at 69 would give you 16% in DRCs on top of that, etc.

Yes you DEF get the COLA! My husband and I both delayed till 69 and we got all the increases from inflation AND the extra 16% for waiting. BUT make sure you understand that Medicare doesn't wait - you should still sign up at 65 for Medicare even if you delay SS!!! We messed that up and had to pay a penalty. Don't make our mistake!!!

So glad you asked this question because I was wondering the exact same thing! I'm 66 and trying to decide whether to take benefits now or wait. My financial advisor told me it's better to take it now because of "opportunity cost" of missing out on that money for 3-4 years. But if I get both the 8% increase AND the COLA increases while waiting, that changes my calculations. Does anyone know if the break-even point calculations that financial advisors use include the COLA factor?

My sister said you only get cola if your already getting checks. She got bad advice from someone at SS office who told her to take benefits at 62!!! Don't trust what they say there.

Im having THE WORST time trying to get through to SSA to ask questions like this!! Been trying for WEEKS to talk to someone about my application status. Busy signals, disconnects, or 2+ hour wait times that end in nothing. So frustrating!!!!

my cousin works for ssa and says sometimes the cola is bigger than the 8% delay credit depending on inflation. last years cola was what, like 8.7%? that was higher than waiting benefit. but ya still get both

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - don't forget about taxes! Depending on your other income, up to 85% of your SS benefits might be taxable. If you're still working and delay benefits, you might end up in a lower tax bracket when you finally do claim if you're retired by then. Something else to factor into your decision.

Just wanted to share my experience as someone who delayed until 70 - you definitely get all the COLAs while waiting! I delayed from 2019 to 2022 and my benefit included every single COLA increase that happened during those years. The SSA website has a section called "Cost-of-Living Adjustment" that explains this, but you have to dig for it. What really helped me was creating a spreadsheet to track my estimated benefit growth each year including both the 8% delayed credits AND the annual COLAs. Made it much easier to see the actual dollar impact of waiting. Good luck with your decision!