The Social Security Administration announced Friday that benefit payments will increase 2.8% next year to account for the higher cost of living.

The 2026 cost-of-living adjustment, knowns as the COLA, represents an increase over last year’s 2.5% figure, but it is lower than the historical average of about 3.7%.

Individual retirement benefits will climb an average of about $56 per month, the agency said in a statement.

The COLA is typically calculated using benchmark inflation data from July, August, and September.

While pandemic-era inflation has ebbed since hitting a high of nearly 10% in 2022, households across the U.S. continue to report feeling price pressures.

Many senior citizens’ advocates say that that demographic has been hit particularly hard — and that the way the ann

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