Since 2002, national pollster Gallup has conducted annual surveys to determine how reliant retirees are on the income they receive from America's top retirement program. These polls have shown that 80% to 90% of retirees, including 88% in April 2024, count on their Social Security check, to some degree, to make ends meet.

The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released in May said the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. If the trust fund is depleted, the government will be able to pay only 83% of scheduled benefits, the report said.

As I’m sure you already heard, all 68 million Social Security beneficiaries’ checks are going up 2.5% in 2025. I always dread mentioning COLAs in this column because every single time I do, I am flooded with emails from readers complaining that the increase is not enough.

Most retirees will soon discover that Social Security's fourth consecutive above-average COLA comes at a hefty price.

The Social Security Administration has announced a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025, marking the fourth consecutive year with a COLA rate of 2.5% or higher.

In 2025, the COLA will be 2.5%, down from 3.2% in 2024 and 8.7% in 2023 and 5.9% in 2022. However, this string of four COLAs still tied a record.

All Social Security checks will get a 2.5% boost next year, thanks to the 2025 COLA. The way the government adds this to your checks is a bit complicated, but you can get a good approximation by adding 2.5% to your existing checks. In the case of the $910 average spousal benefit, the COLA will add about $23, bringing it to $933 per month.