The second set of Social Security checks, which will include the new 5.9 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA), will be issued in the month of February. The increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the greatest in over 40 years for those who qualify. As a result, inflation is already around 7 percent and is likely to continue growing.
What is COLA?
According to Investopedia, the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is a rise made to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income to counter the effects of rising prices in the economy, which is known as inflation. For a given period of time, cost-of-living adjustments are normally equal to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which measures inflation.
The usage of COLAs in compensation-related contracts, real estate contracts, and government benefits was common throughout the 1970s since inflation was significant at the time of the contracts’ creation. The CPI-W is determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and it is used by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to compute cost-of-living adjustments.
Payments in February for Social Security beneficiaries
The COLA formula is calculated by dividing the percentage rise in the CPI-W from the third quarter of one year to the third quarter of the next year by the number of months between the third quarters of the two years. On the SSA website, this information is updated on a regular basis.
Marca reported that those whose birthday occurs between the 1st and the 10th of the month will be paid on Wednesday, February 9, according to the schedule. Payment will be sent on Wednesday, February 16, to those whose birthday falls between the 11th and the 20th of the month.
And if your birthday falls between the 21st and the 31st of the month, your payment will be delivered to you on Wednesday, February 23.
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