Do SS COLA increases apply to your future benefits if you haven't filed for Social Security yet?

Your friend is partially right, but explaining it wrong. COLA doesn't directly apply to your unclaimed benefits, but your eventual benefit WILL reflect all the COLAs that occurred between age 62 and when you claim. What happens is that your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) gets recalculated with each COLA. So while you're not directly 'getting' those increases now, they're being factored into the calculation that will determine your payment when you do claim at 67.

nope not how it works. my brother told me the same thing but when i talked to ssa they said cola only starts once ur actually getting checks

Let me clarify how this actually works with Social Security COLA: 1) Your basic benefit (PIA) is calculated based on your highest 35 years of earnings 2) Starting at age 62, your PIA receives ALL COLA increases, EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T FILED YET 3) When you eventually file (at 67 in your case), your benefit will include all those COLA increases 4) Plus, you'll get the delayed retirement credits for waiting (8% per year from FRA) So yes, you ARE getting the advantage of all those COLA increases that occur between 62 and 67. This is actually one of the hidden advantages of delaying - you get both the delayed credits AND the COLA adjustments.

my sister told me the same thing but she gets so many things wrong about SS!! glad i saw this post, i was confused too

UGH trying to get a straight answer from Social Security about this EXACT question has been IMPOSSIBLE!!!!! I've called THREE TIMES and got disconnected EVERY TIME after waiting for over an HOUR!!!! This system is DESIGNED to keep us from understanding our benefits!!!!

Is there any way to see these COLA increases that are supposedly happening to my future benefit? When I log into my SSA account online, I only see one estimated benefit amount at different ages, but nothing showing how it's changed with COLA over time.

ok but if i waited till 70 to file and then we hit a bad recession with no colas for a few years wouldnt i miss out? trying to decide when to file myself

One important point that hasn't been mentioned: The COLA adjustments that are applied to your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) starting at age 62 are the SAME percentages that current beneficiaries receive. So when current Social Security recipients got the 8.7% COLA for 2023, people who were eligible but not yet claiming ALSO had their future benefits increased by 8.7%. This applies regardless of when you plan to claim - whether that's 62, 67, 70, or anywhere in between.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm in a similar situation - turning 62 next year but planning to wait until my full retirement age. I had no idea that COLA increases were being applied to my future benefits starting at 62. This actually makes me feel much better about my decision to delay claiming. Does anyone know if there's a good resource that explains all the "hidden" benefits of delaying Social Security? It seems like there are advantages I'm not even aware of yet.

As a newcomer here, I want to thank everyone for this incredibly informative discussion! I'm 63 and was honestly losing sleep over whether I was making a mistake by not claiming yet. My plan is to wait until 67, but I kept second-guessing myself thinking I was "losing" all those COLA increases. Now I understand that not only am I NOT losing them, but they're actually being added to my future benefit amount automatically. This is exactly the kind of real-world explanation that the SSA website doesn't provide clearly. I feel so much more confident about my retirement planning strategy now!

I'm new to this community and just wanted to say how grateful I am for finding this discussion! I'm 64 and have been agonizing over the same question for months. My financial advisor gave me conflicting information compared to what I read online, and calling SSA has been a nightmare (like Carmen mentioned). Reading through everyone's explanations here has finally given me the clarity I needed. The way you all broke down how PIA adjustments work with COLA increases makes so much more sense than the technical jargon on the SSA website. I'm planning to wait until 67 as well, and now I feel confident that I'm not missing out on anything by delaying. This community seems like an amazing resource for real-world Social Security guidance!

As someone who just joined this community, I can't thank everyone enough for this incredibly detailed discussion! I'm 65 and have been wrestling with the exact same question as Luca. My biggest concern was whether I was somehow "losing money" by not claiming yet, especially when I see those big COLA announcements each year. The way everyone has explained how PIA adjustments work has been a revelation - I had no idea that my future benefits were actually growing with each COLA increase even though I'm not collecting yet. This makes my decision to wait until full retirement age feel so much smarter. It's amazing how this one thread has answered questions that months of research on official websites couldn't clarify. Looking forward to learning more from this knowledgeable community!

As a new member to this community, I just want to echo what everyone else has said about how helpful this discussion has been! I'm 66 and was literally about to call SSA tomorrow to start my benefits because I was convinced I was missing out on all these COLA increases. Reading through this thread has completely changed my perspective - I had no idea that my PIA was already being adjusted with each COLA even though I haven't filed yet. Now I understand that waiting until 70 will give me both the delayed retirement credits AND all the COLA adjustments that happen between now and then. This is exactly the kind of real-world explanation that you just can't get from the official SSA materials. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences - this community is already proving to be an invaluable resource for navigating Social Security decisions!