Do SS COLA increases apply to your future benefits if you haven't filed for Social Security yet?
I'm planning to wait until 67 to claim my SS retirement benefits (about 4 years away), but I'm confused about how the annual COLA increases work. My friend insists that even though I'm not drawing benefits yet, these yearly increases are still being added to my future benefit amount. That doesn't sound right to me, but he swears it's true. Does anyone know if COLA increases actually apply to your benefits BEFORE you start claiming? Or do they only start affecting your payment once you're receiving Social Security?
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Nia Jackson
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.
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Luca Romano
•Thanks! So my benefit at 67 will include all those COLA increases that happened while I was waiting? That's actually a relief - was worried I might be missing out on something by delaying.
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Mateo Hernandez
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
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CosmicCruiser
•This is COMPLETELY incorrect. Your PIA (that's your basic benefit amount) absolutely gets adjusted by every COLA between age 62 and when you file. I've worked at a financial planning firm for 12 years and see this all the time. The confusion comes because you don't SEE these increases until you start collecting, but they ARE being applied!
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Aisha Khan
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.
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Luca Romano
•This is really clear, thank you! So I'm actually getting both benefits by waiting - the 8% per year increase PLUS all the COLA increases that happen between 62 and 67. That makes delaying sound even better than I thought.
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Ethan Taylor
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
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Yuki Ito
•There's so much misinformation about Social Security floating around! The official SSA website explains this clearly in their section about COLAs, but it's buried in technical language most people don't read.
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Carmen Lopez
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!!!!
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CosmicCruiser
•If you're having trouble reaching SSA by phone, I recently used this service called Claimyr that got me through to a representative in about 20 minutes instead of hours. They basically call SSA for you and then connect you when they reach an agent. Saved me a ton of frustration. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU
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Luca Romano
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.
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Aisha Khan
•Unfortunately, the mySocialSecurity portal doesn't show the year-by-year COLA adjustments for future benefits. The estimates they show DO include projected future COLAs (they usually assume 2.4% annual increases), but they don't break it down for you. If you download your annual Social Security statement over several years, you can actually see how your projected benefits change with each COLA adjustment.
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Mateo Hernandez
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
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Nia Jackson
•Actually, during years with no COLA (like what happened in 2010, 2011, and 2016), NOBODY gets an increase - not people already collecting or people waiting to collect. So you wouldn't be missing out compared to someone already receiving benefits. In fact, you'd still be getting your 8% delayed retirement credits during those years, which people already collecting don't get.
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Yuki Ito
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.
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Ethan Taylor
•wow that 8.7% was huge!! wish they were all like that lol
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