{"id":1772009,"date":"2022-12-12T06:05:44","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T11:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1772009"},"modified":"2022-12-12T07:48:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T12:48:30","slug":"8-7-social-security-cost-of-living-increase-begins-in-2023-due-to-inflation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/8-7-social-security-cost-of-living-increase-begins-in-2023-due-to-inflation\/","title":{"rendered":"8.7% Social Security Cost-of-Living Increase Begins in 2023 Due to Inflation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F8-7-social-security-cost-of-living-increase-begins-in-2023-due-to-inflation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1772009&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"PageBuilder-col-full PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\">\n<div class=\"TopBanner-container\" data-top-banner-placeholder=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"PageBuilder-col-full PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"PageBuilder-col-9 PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\">\n<div class=\"RenderKeyPoints-keyPoints\" id=\"RegularArticle-KeyPoints-4\" data-test=\"keyPoints-1\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-keyPoints-4-1\">\n<div class=\"RenderKeyPoints-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"RenderKeyPoints-list\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<ul>\n<li>Social Security beneficiaries will soon see bigger checks to help them cope with record high inflation.<\/li>\n<li>As Social Security statements roll in, you should troubleshoot for errors that can cost you.<\/li>\n<li>Also keep in mind that higher income this year may affect your income taxes and Medicare premium surcharges in the future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ArticleBody-articleBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-ArticleBody-5\" data-module=\"ArticleBody\" data-test=\"articleBody-2\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-articleBody-5-2\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-107163513\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit\">Kathrin Ziegler | Digitalvision | Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>As inflation has kept prices high in 2022, Social Security beneficiaries may look forward to a record high cost-of-living adjustment in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Your Social Security benefits will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/10\/13\/social-security-cola-will-be-8point7percent-in-2023-highest-increase-in-40-years.html\">increase by 8.7% in 2023<\/a> because of a rise in cost of living,&#8221; the Social Security Administration states in the annual statements it is currently sending to beneficiaries.<\/p>\n<p>The 8.7% increase will be the highest in 40 years. It is also a significant bump from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/10\/13\/social-security-cost-of-living-adjustment-will-be-5point9percent-in-2022.html\">5.9% cost-of-living increase beneficiaries saw in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The increase is &#8220;kind of a double-edged sword,&#8221; according to Jim Blair, a former Social Security administrator and co-founder and lead consultant at Premier Social Security Consulting, which educates consumer and financial advisors on the program&#8217;s benefits.<\/p>\n<p><strong>More from Personal Finance:<\/strong><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/12\/02\/why-more-workers-need-access-to-retirement-savings.html\">Why more workers need access to retirement savings<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/11\/29\/social-security-retirement-benefits-and-unretirement-what-to-know.html\">If you&#8217;re unretiring, avoid this Social Security surprise<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/11\/30\/why-long-covid-could-be-the-next-public-health-disaster.html\">Why long Covid may be &#8216;the next public health disaster&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s good for people on Social Security,&#8221; Blair said. &#8220;It&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/10\/14\/social-security-8point7percent-cost-of-living-adjustment-may-affect-its-solvency.html\">not so good<\/a> for the economy with inflation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Social Security benefit checks will reflect the increase <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/10\/21\/social-security-benefits-to-go-up-by-more-than-140-per-month-in-2023.html\">starting in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/10\/21\/social-security-benefits-to-go-up-by-more-than-140-per-month-in-2023.html\">average retiree benefit<\/a> will go up by $146 per month, to $1,827 in 2023 from $1,681 in 2022, according to the Social Security Administration The average disability benefit will increase by $119 per month, to $1,483 in 2023 from $1,364 in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s more, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/09\/27\/medicare-standard-part-b-premiums-will-drop-by-3percent-to-164point90-next-year.html\">standard Medicare Part B premiums<\/a> will go down by about 3% next year to $164.90, a $5.20 decrease from 2022. Medicare Part B covers outpatient medical care including doctors&#8217; visits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<div id=\"RegularArticle-DataWrapperChart\" class=\"DataWrapperChart-dataWrapperContainer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Monthly Part B premium payments are often deducted directly from Social Security checks. Due to the lower 2023 premiums, beneficiaries are poised to see more of the 8.7% increase in their monthly Social Security checks.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The good news about these letters is people are realizing 100% of the 8.7% lift,&#8221; said David Freitag, a financial planning consultant and Social Security expert at MassMutual.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Of course, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/12\/02\/jobs-report-november-2022.html\">economy is inflated<\/a> at a frightful rate, but this represents the value of cost-of-living adjusted benefits from Social Security,&#8221; Freitag said.<\/p>\n<p>Few other income streams in retirement offer cost-of-living adjustments, he noted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">What to look for in your Social Security statement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-107163520\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit\">Justin Paget | Digitalvision | Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>If you&#8217;re wondering how much more you stand to see in your checks, the personalized letter from the Social Security Administration will give you a breakdown of what to expect.<\/p>\n<p>That includes your new 2023 monthly benefit amount before deductions.<\/p>\n<p>It will also tell you your 2023 monthly deduction for premiums for Medicare Part B, as well as Medicare Part D, which covers prescription drugs.<\/p>\n<p>The statement will also show your deduction for voluntary tax withholding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote data-test=\"Pullquote\">\n<div class=\"Pullquote-pullquote\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"Pullquote-quote\">The good news about these letters is people are realizing 100% of the 8.7% lift.<\/div>\n<div class=\"Pullquote-sourceWrapper\">\n<div class=\"Pullquote-source\">David Freitag<\/div>\n<div class=\"Pullquote-info\">financial planning consultant and Social Security expert at MassMutual<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>After those deductions, the statement shows how much will be deposited into your bank account in January.<\/p>\n<p>Of note, you do not necessarily have to be receiving Social Security checks now to benefit from the record 2023 increase, Blair noted.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The good news is you don&#8217;t have to apply for benefits to receive the cost-of-living adjustment,&#8221; Blair said. &#8220;You just have to be age 62 or older.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">When you may pay Medicare premium surcharges<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>If your income is above a certain amount, you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/07\/16\/strategies-can-help-you-avoid-paying-extra-for-medicare-premiums.html\">may pay a surcharge<\/a> called an income related monthly adjustment amount, or IRMAA, on Medicare Parts B and D.<\/p>\n<p>This year, that will be determined by your 2021 tax returns, including your adjusted gross income and tax-exempt interest income. Those two amounts are added together to get your modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, those <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/09\/29\/some-medicare-beneficiaries-could-face-2023-part-b-premiums-of-560point50.html\">IRMAA premium rates<\/a> kick in if your modified adjusted gross income is $97,000.01 or higher and you filed your tax return as single, head of household, qualifying widow or widower or married filing separately; or $194,000.01 or higher if you are married and filed jointly.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, just one dollar over could put you in a higher bracket.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s important for everyone to make sure that the amount of adjusted gross income that they&#8217;re using for the IRMAA surcharges agrees with what they filed on their tax return two years ago,&#8221; Freitag said.<\/p>\n<p>If the information does not match, you &#8220;absolutely need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/09\/22\/how-to-appeal-medicare-premium-irmaa-surcharges.html\">file an appeal<\/a>,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Because the IRMAA surcharges can be extremely significant, that is an area to watch for errors, Freitag said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">When to appeal your Medicare surcharges<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>If your income has gone down since your 2021 tax return, you can appeal your IRMAA.<\/p>\n<p>That goes if you have been affected by a life changing event and your modified adjusted gross income has moved down a bracket or below the lowest amounts in the table.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Qualifying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/forms\/ssa-44-ext.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">life changing events<\/a>, according to the Social Security Administration, include marriage; divorce or annulment; death of a spouse; you or your spouse reduced your work hours or stopped working altogether; you or your spouse lost income on from property due to a disaster; you or your spouse experienced cessation, termination or reorganization of an employer&#8217;s pension plan; or you or your spouse received a settlement from an employer or former employer due to bankruptcy, closure or reorganization.<\/p>\n<p>To report that change, beneficiaries need to fill out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/forms\/ssa-44-ext.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Form SSA-44<\/a> with appropriate documentation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">How higher benefits could cost you<\/h2>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-107163950\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCredit\">Andrew Bret Wallis | The Image Bank | Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>As your Social Security income goes up with the 8.7% COLA, that may also push your into a different IRMAA or tax bracket, Freitag noted.<\/p>\n<p>That calls for careful monitoring of your income, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind that two years in the future you may get <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/09\/29\/some-medicare-beneficiaries-could-face-2023-part-b-premiums-of-560point50.html\">exposed to IRMAA issues<\/a> if you&#8217;re not careful.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, more of your Social Security benefits may be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/10\/20\/what-8point7percent-social-security-cola-for-2023-means-for-taxes-on-benefits.html\">subject to income taxes<\/a>. Up to 85% of Social Security income <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/05\/29\/-your-social-security-check-might-be-taxed-how-that-could-change.html\">may be taxed<\/a> based on a unique formula that also factors in other income.<\/p>\n<p>It is a good idea to have taxes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/10\/20\/what-8point7percent-social-security-cola-for-2023-means-for-taxes-on-benefits.html\">withheld from Social Security benefits<\/a> in order to avoid a tax liability when you file your income tax returns, according to Marc Kiner, a CPA and co-founder of Premier Social Security Consulting.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Do it as soon as you can,&#8221; Kiner said of filling out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/forms-pubs\/about-form-w-4-v\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">voluntary withholding request form<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To better gauge how IRMAA or taxes on benefits may affect you going forward, it may help to consult a tax advisor or CPA who can help identify tax-efficient strategies, Freitag said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-inline WatchLiveRightRail-container\" id=\"RegularArticle-WatchLiveRightRail-7\" data-test=\"watchLiveRightRail-4\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-watchLiveRightRail-7-4\">\n<div class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/live-tv\/\" class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-wlButton\">WATCH LIVE<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/4db8932b7ac3e84e3f64.svg\" class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-logo\" alt=\"logo\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/live-tv\/\" class=\"WatchLiveRightRail-wlButtonMobile\">WATCH IN THE APP<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"PageBuilder-col-9 PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"PageBuilder-col-12 PageBuilder-col PageBuilder-article\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Social Security beneficiaries will soon see bigger checks to help them cope with record high inflation. As Social Security statements<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1899552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[8016,8018,5458,8017,5476,5708,3819,3646,5127],"class_list":["post-1772009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-8016","tag-8-7","tag-bongino","tag-cost-of-living","tag-increase","tag-inflation","tag-report","tag-security","tag-social"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1772009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1772009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1772009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1899552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1772009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1772009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1772009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}