SSA Finally Announces Social Security Benefit Increase for 2014

Image gives credit to © BRADLEY C BOWER/AP/Corbis.

After various rumors and speculations regarding the automatic social security benefit increase for next year, the Social Security Administration has finally announced the exact amount of the said federal benefit in its official web page.

In its press release, the agency has confirmed that the automatic cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase in 2014 will be 1.5 percent. 

By January 2014, approximately 57 million Social Security Benefit recipients will start enjoying the raise while some 8 million Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries will start to receive the increased payments by December 31, 2013, the agency announced. 

The annual automatic increase was adopted long ago for the purpose of keeping up the recipient’s income with the constantly increasing consumer prices.

Moreover, the agency also noted that some other changes that will take effect in January every year are based on the increase in average wages.

Just before the agency officially announced the exact amount of the automatic annual increase, many analyst and economist here in Los Angeles speculated that the increase is likely to be only 1.5 percent. In fact, this is one of the lowest in the previous decades.

“Apparently, analysts have got it right. This is most probably due to the fact that consumer prices haven’t gone up much this year and the recent years as monitored by the federal government,” said by a long term disability lawyer.