(CNN) — Social Security recipients will receive a 2.8% boost in their monthly benefits in 2026, the Social Security Administration announced Friday. However, many seniors say the annual adjustments haven’t been enough to cover their ever-rising expenses.

The increase for 2026 is larger than the 2.5% cost-of-living-adjustment that beneficiaries received for this year, but far smaller than the ones for the few years before that, when inflation was running rampant.

Retirees’ monthly payments will rise by about $56 to an estimated average of $2,071 starting in January, the agency said. Nearly 71 million people receive Social Security benefits.

(A total of 75 million Americans receive either Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits from the agency. Some receive both.)

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