Social Security gets 8.7% cost-of-living increase — highest since 1981

Social Security recipients will receive the sharpest increase to their benefits in four decades next year in an effort to offset the effects of inflation, the feds said Thursday.

Social Security benefits will increase 8.7% in 2023 for approximately 70 million eligible Americans, the Social Security Administration announced.

The cost-of-living adjustment is the most recipients have received since 1981, when benefits were boosted 11.2%.

Beginning in January, the average retiree will receive $1,827 in monthly Social Security benefits after the cost-of-living adjustment. That figure marks an increase of $146 per...