Will Social Security benefit amounts increase with COLA if I delay claiming until 70?

Thank you! That's exactly what I needed to know. So just to be clear, both the COLAs and the delayed retirement credits are working in my favor simultaneously from now until 70? That's better than I thought!

Your mom's confusion is actually pretty common! There's a difference between the COLA adjustments (which happen to everyone's benefit calculation) and the early/delayed claiming adjustments (which are based on when you actually start collecting relative to your Full Retirement Age). Both factors affect your final benefit amount but in different ways.

That's really helpful to hear about your real experience! Those COLAs really added up for you. I'm hoping for decent COLAs in the next few years too, though I know they're tied to inflation which isn't always good for other aspects of retirement planning.

exactly!!!! SSA can't predict future inflation so how can they know what COLAs will be?? my benefit estimate was WAY OFF because of the crazy inflation we had. ended up with $240 more per month than what they estimated 3 yrs earlier!

I had the same frustrating experience trying to get through to SSA! I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent confirmed exactly what others are saying here - COLAs absolutely do apply to your benefits even before you start collecting. The website should definitely make this clearer!

Exactly right! And just one more thing to keep in mind - when planning, remember that your Social Security benefits might be subject to income tax depending on your other income sources in retirement. Depending on your total income, up to 85% of your SS benefits could be taxable. Just something to factor into your comprehensive retirement budget.

Your brother was confusing two different aspects of Social Security. The COLA is applied to everyone's PIA calculation annually, regardless of claiming status. What he might be thinking of is that the benefit formula itself is based on your 35 highest-earning years, and those past earnings are indexed for wage growth (not COLA) before calculating your initial benefit amount. It gets confusing because SSA uses different types of adjustments for different purposes!

Thanks for sharing your real-world experience and the spreadsheet tip! As someone new to thinking about Social Security planning, I really appreciate the practical advice about modeling different COLA scenarios. The Medicare Part B deduction is something I hadn't considered yet - that's a great point that those premiums can eat into the benefit increases. Do you happen to remember roughly how much the Medicare premiums went up year over year during your waiting period? I'm trying to get a sense of whether that's a significant factor or more of a minor adjustment to account for.

Great question about Medicare premiums! From what I've observed, Part B premiums typically increase by around $5-15 per month annually, though it can vary quite a bit. For example, the standard Part B premium went from $164.90 in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024 - that's about a $10 increase. It's not huge compared to COLA increases, but over several years it does add up. The good news is that there's a "hold harmless" provision that generally prevents your Medicare premium increase from being larger than your COLA increase, so your net Social Security payment should still go up each year. I'd budget maybe $10-20 annually for premium increases just to be safe in your planning calculations.

@Emma Davis Great question! Medicare Part B premiums have been increasing pretty steadily - they went from $164.90/month in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024, and now they re'$185/month for 2025. So that s'roughly $10-11 increases per year recently. It might seem small, but over 4 years of waiting that adds up to about $40-44 less per month from your Social Security benefit than you might initially calculate. Not huge, but definitely worth factoring in when you re'doing detailed planning like Nathan is doing!

Great question about Medicare Part B premiums! From what I've seen, the standard Part B premium has been increasing pretty steadily - it went from about $148/month in 2021 to $174.70 in 2024, so roughly $6-9 increases per year recently. It's not huge compared to COLA increases, but it does nibble away at your net benefit growth. The good news is that there's usually a "hold harmless" provision that prevents your Social Security payment from decreasing due to Medicare premium increases, though this mainly protects people already receiving benefits. Since you're still in planning mode, definitely factor in maybe a 4-6% annual increase in Medicare premiums when you're modeling your future net Social Security income.

Great question about Medicare premiums! From what I've seen, Medicare Part B premiums typically increase somewhere between $5-15 per month annually, though it can vary quite a bit. For example, the standard Part B premium went from $164.90 in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024 - so about a $10 increase. It's not huge compared to your overall Social Security benefit, but over several years it can add up to a few hundred dollars annually. I'd suggest budgeting for maybe a 3-4% annual increase in Medicare costs as a rough planning number, which tends to be a bit higher than general inflation but reflects healthcare cost trends.

Great question about Medicare premiums! From what I've seen, Part B premiums typically increase by around $5-15 per month each year, though it can vary. For example, the standard Part B premium went from $164.90 in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024 - about a $10 increase. It's not huge compared to COLA increases, but over several years it does add up. I'd suggest budgeting for maybe a 3-6% annual increase in Medicare premiums as a rough planning estimate. The good news is that the Medicare premium increases are usually much smaller than the COLA adjustments, so you're still coming out ahead overall when delaying benefits!

@Emma Davis Medicare Part B premiums have been going up pretty steadily! In 2022 they were $170.10/month, then jumped to $174.70 in 2023, and $174.90 in 2024. For 2025 they re'$185/month. So you re'looking at roughly $10-15 increases per year on average, though some years see bigger jumps. It s'not huge compared to your total Social Security benefit, but over time it does add up. I d'budget maybe 4-6% annual increases for Medicare premiums in your planning just to be safe. The good news is that when Social Security gets a COLA increase, they usually adjust the Medicare premium deduction timing so you still see most of the benefit increase in your net payment.

Great question about Medicare premiums! From what I've observed, Medicare Part B premiums typically increase annually, but the amounts can vary quite a bit. For example, the standard Part B premium went from $164.90 in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024 - that's about a $10/month increase. Over a few years, these increases can add up to $30-50+ per month in additional deductions from your Social Security benefit. It's definitely not as big a factor as the COLA increases themselves, but it's worth building into your planning because it does reduce your net Social Security payment. I'd suggest budgeting for Medicare premium increases of roughly 3-5% annually when you're doing your retirement calculations. The good news is that Social Security COLAs typically outpace Medicare premium increases, so your net benefit should still grow over time, just not by the full COLA amount.

Great question about Medicare Part B premiums! From what I've seen, they typically increase by about $5-15 per month each year, though it can vary. For example, the standard Part B premium went from $164.90 in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024 - so about a $10 monthly increase. It's not huge compared to COLA increases on your Social Security benefit, but over time it does add up. I'd suggest budgeting for maybe a $10-12 annual increase in Medicare premiums when you're doing your retirement planning calculations. The SSA website has historical premium data if you want to look at the actual trends!

Great question about Medicare Part B premiums! From my experience, they typically increase by around $5-15 per month each year, though some years can be higher. For example, Part B went from $164.90 in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024 - about a $10 increase. It's not huge compared to COLA increases, but over 4 years it can add up to maybe $40-60 less in your net Social Security payment. I'd suggest budgeting for about a 3-4% annual increase in Medicare premiums when you're doing your planning calculations. The good news is that COLAs usually outpace Medicare premium increases, so your net benefit should still grow over time!

Great question! Medicare Part B premiums have been going up pretty consistently - they went from $164.90/month in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024, and now $185/month for 2025. So that's roughly $10-15 increases per year recently. It's not huge compared to COLA increases, but over 4 years it could add up to maybe $40-60 less in your net Social Security payment. The good news is that there are "hold harmless" provisions that generally prevent Medicare premium increases from eating up your entire COLA increase if you're already receiving benefits, though I'm not sure how that works for people still in the delayed claiming phase.

Great question about Medicare premiums! From what I've seen, Part B premiums typically increase by around $5-15 per month annually, though there can be bigger jumps some years. For example, the standard Part B premium went from $164.90 in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024 - so about a $10/month increase. It's not huge compared to COLA increases on a $3,000+ benefit, but it does chip away at your net increase. I'd suggest budgeting for maybe a $10-12 annual increase in Medicare premiums when you're doing your retirement projections. The good news is that Social Security recipients are protected by the "hold harmless" provision, so Medicare premium increases can't reduce your actual Social Security payment below the previous year's amount.

Great question about Medicare premiums! I can share some actual numbers from my experience. During my 5-year waiting period (age 65-70), Medicare Part B premiums went from about $148/month in 2019 to $174.70/month in 2024 - so roughly a 3.4% annual increase on average. Some years it was barely any increase, other years it jumped more significantly. What caught me off guard was that in years when there's a big COLA increase for Social Security, Medicare premiums often go up more too because they're tied to the same economic factors. So while my SS benefit got an 8.7% COLA in 2023, my Medicare premium also had its largest jump. Still came out ahead overall, but it's worth factoring in maybe a 3-4% annual increase for Medicare when you're doing your planning spreadsheets. Hope that helps with your calculations!

Great question about Medicare Part B premium increases! From what I've observed, the Medicare Part B premium typically goes up anywhere from $5-15 per month each year, though it can vary quite a bit. For example, it went from around $148/month in 2021 to $170/month in 2024 - so roughly $7-8 increase per year on average during that period. It's not huge compared to COLA increases on Social Security benefits, but it's definitely something to factor in. The premium increases are usually announced in the fall for the following year, so you can track them on Medicare.gov. I'd suggest budgeting for maybe a $10/month annual increase as a reasonable planning assumption, but keep an eye on the actual announcements since healthcare costs can be unpredictable.

Great question about Medicare Part B premiums! From what I've seen, Part B premiums typically increase by about $5-15 per month annually, though it can vary. For 2025, the standard Part B premium is $185/month, up from $174.70 in 2024. So while it's not huge compared to COLA increases, it does chip away at your net benefit growth. I'd suggest budgeting for maybe a $10/month average annual increase in Medicare premiums when you're doing your planning calculations. The good news is that Social Security benefits usually grow faster than Medicare premium increases, so you still come out ahead overall.

Great question about Medicare Part B premiums! From what I've seen, they typically increase by around $5-15 per month annually, though it can vary more in some years. For 2024, the standard Part B premium is $174.70/month, and it was $164.90 in 2023, so about a $10 increase that year. It's not huge compared to COLA increases, but over time it does add up. The good news is that there's a "hold harmless" provision that generally prevents your Medicare premium increase from being larger than your COLA increase, so your net Social Security benefit shouldn't actually decrease year-over-year for most people. Still worth factoring into your planning though!

Great question about Medicare Part B premiums! From what I've seen, they typically increase by around $5-15 per month annually, though there can be bigger jumps some years. For 2025, the standard Part B premium is $185/month, up from $174.70 in 2024. Over a 4-year waiting period like Nathan's planning, you might see total increases of $30-60/month, which definitely adds up over time. It's not huge compared to COLA increases on a $3,400+ benefit, but it's still worth factoring in since it directly reduces your net Social Security payment. I always tell people to budget conservatively on both sides - modest COLA growth and gradual Medicare premium increases.

Great question about Medicare Part B premiums! From what I've seen, the standard Part B premium has been going up roughly 3-6% annually in recent years. For example, it went from $164.90 in 2023 to $174.70 in 2024 (about a 6% increase). It's not huge compared to your total Social Security benefit, but over time it does add up. I'd suggest budgeting for maybe a 4-5% annual increase in Medicare premiums as a reasonable planning assumption. The good news is that Social Security COLAs often outpace Medicare premium increases, so your net benefit still tends to grow over time.

Great question about Medicare Part B premiums! From what I've seen, they typically increase by around $5-15 per month each year, though it can vary. For 2025, the standard Part B premium is $185/month, up from $174.70 in 2024. So while it's not huge compared to your Social Security benefit, it does chip away at those COLA increases a bit. The good news is that there's something called the "hold harmless" provision that usually prevents your net Social Security payment from decreasing due to Medicare premium increases, though it can limit how much of the COLA increase you actually see. Definitely worth factoring into your planning!