Social Security payments to jump most in 39 years as inflation surges

Millions of retirees and other Americans receiving Social Security benefits in 2022 are set to receive the biggest payment increase in four decades, following a pandemic-driven inflation spike.

The Social Security Administration said Wednesday that next year's cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, will be 5.9%. That amounts to a monthly increase of $92 for the average retired Wednesday, bringing the amount to $1,657, the administration said. A typical couple's benefits would climb by $154 to $2,754 per month. 

The increase – the steepest annual adjustment since 1982, when recipients saw a 7.4% bump – marks an abrupt end to low inflation that saw years of meager COLA increases. Over the past 12 years, the average COLA increase has been just 1.4%. In 2021, recipients received an increase of just 1.3%, or about an extra $20 a month for retirees.