Uh Oh: Retirees Might Have to Wait Longer Than Expected to Find Out What Their 2026 Social Security COLA Will Be

Motley Fool10-02

A key report needed to finalize the 2026 Social Security COLA might not be released on time. The federal government shutdown is to blame. Social Security payments won't be impacted -- ...

Source Link

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Comments

We need your insight to fill this gap

Leave a comment

{"i18n":{"language":"en_US"},"isChannel":false,"data":{"share":"https://ttm.financial/m/news/2572294513?lang=en_US&edition=fundamental","thumbnail":"https://g.foolcdn.com/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fg.foolcdn.com%2Feditorial%2Fimages%2F835589%2Ftwo-people-with-stunned-expressions-looking-at-laptop.jpg&op=resize&w=165&h=104","is_english":true,"pubTime":"2025-10-02 17:37","share_image_url":"https://static.laohu8.com/e9f99090a1c2ed51c021029395664489","id":"2572294513","market":"fut","top_or_hot":-1,"title":"Uh Oh: Retirees Might Have to Wait Longer Than Expected to Find Out What Their 2026 Social Security COLA Will Be","media":"Motley Fool","content":"<div>\n<p>A key report needed to finalize the 2026 Social Security COLA might not be released on time.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe federal government shutdown is to blame.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSocial Security payments won't be impacted -- ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://www.fool.com/retirement/2025/10/02/uh-oh-retirees-might-have-to-wait-longer-than-expe/\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n","source":"fool_stock","html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Uh Oh: Retirees Might Have to Wait Longer Than Expected to Find Out What Their 2026 Social Security COLA Will Be</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nUh Oh: Retirees Might Have to Wait Longer Than Expected to Find Out What Their 2026 Social Security COLA Will Be\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2025-10-02 17:37 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.fool.com/retirement/2025/10/02/uh-oh-retirees-might-have-to-wait-longer-than-expe/><strong>Motley Fool</strong></a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>A key report needed to finalize the 2026 Social Security COLA might not be released on time.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe federal government shutdown is to blame.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSocial Security payments won't be impacted -- ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://www.fool.com/retirement/2025/10/02/uh-oh-retirees-might-have-to-wait-longer-than-expe/\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"COLA","symbol_name":"COLUMBUS ACQUISITION CORP","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://www.fool.com/retirement/2025/10/02/uh-oh-retirees-might-have-to-wait-longer-than-expe/","article_id":"2572294513","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":["https://g.foolcdn.com/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fg.foolcdn.com%2Feditorial%2Fimages%2F835589%2Ftwo-people-with-stunned-expressions-looking-at-laptop.jpg&op=resize&w=165&h=104"],"rights":{"source":"fool_stock","url":"https://www.fool.com/retirement/2025/10/02/uh-oh-retirees-might-have-to-wait-longer-than-expe/","rn_cache_url":null,"customStyle":"","selectors":".main-contain, #article-page","filters":"#sticky-wrapper, .navigation, .article-page-end, .foot, .author-tagline, .author-inline, .footer, .soc-share, .wysiwyg, .related-content","directOrigin":true},"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2572294513","pubTimestamp":1759397820,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"fool_stock","name":"Motley Fool"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"Normally, the 2026 Social Security COLA would be announced on Oct. 15. But the current situation is abnormal.","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"fool.com","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"COLA":"COLUMBUS ACQUISITION CORP","DOL":"智慧树国际大盘股息基金"},"translate_title":"啊哦：退休人员可能需要等待比预期更长的时间才能知道他们的2026年社会保障可乐是什么","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"DOL":1,"COLA":1.5},"content_text":"A key report needed to finalize the 2026 Social Security COLA might not be released on time.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe federal government shutdown is to blame.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSocial Security payments won't be impacted -- and retirees will eventually find out the amount of the upcoming COLA.\n\nMany retirees have Oct. 15 circled on their calendars. What's so special about that date? Two important things happen.First, the official calendar of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) includes the scheduled release of Consumer Price Index data on Oct. 15. Second, the Social Security Administration (SSA) uses one of the numbers in that BLS report to finalize next year's cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and it typically announces the amount of the increase that same morning. That's how the process would normally work, but maybe not this time. Retirees might have to wait longer than expected to find out their 2026 Social Security COLA.Image source: Getty Images.The ripple effects of a government shutdownThe problem is that the federal government isn't fully operational. Legislation authorizing the government to spend money on its operations beyond Oct. 1, 2025, didn't pass Congress, resulting in a government shutdown.Last week, the House of Representatives approved a stopgap bill that would have funded the federal government through Nov. 20. However, this legislation did not pass in the Senate. Sixty votes are required to pass a spending bill in the upper chamber -- and those votes aren't there for the bill it received.What does all this have to do with the Social Security COLA? The Department of Labor (DOL) released a contingency plan last Friday outlining the actions that it would take in the event of a federal government shutdown. The department stated that it intended \"to ensure that DOL agencies can perform an orderly suspension of programs and operations should a lapse occur, while continuing those limited activities authorized to continue during a lapse.\" BLS is part of the Department of Labor and is one of the agencies that \"will suspend all operations.\" In particular, the DOL's contingency plan said, \"Economic data that are scheduled to be released during the lapse will not be released.\"If no BLS inflation data is released on Oct. 15, SSA won't be able to calculate the 2026 Social Security COLA. How long could the delay be?When will retirees find out how much their \"raise\" for next year will be? It depends entirely on how long the federal government shutdown lasts.These shutdowns are more common than you might think. Over the last 50 years, the federal government has run out of funding 21 times. Both the shortest and longest shutdowns occurred in the first Trump administration.In 2018, the federal government shut down twice. One lasted for three days, but the other ended after only a few hours. But in 2019, the government shut down for 35 days because the two major political parties disagreed about allocating money to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.There are another 13 days to go before Oct. 15, when the BLS inflation report release and the Social Security COLA announcement are scheduled. Congress may pass a funding bill for the federal government before then. History is on the side of the optimists: Of the 21 shutdowns over the last five decades, only four lasted at least 13 days. Social Security payments won't be haltedImportantly, people's actual monthly Social Security payments won't be impacted by the federal government shutdown. Benefits will continue to flow (although Social Security \"checks\" won't, since the SSA recently converted to delivering all payments digitally.Could the COLA itself be delayed? For that to happen, the shutdown would have to last for three months. Such a scenario is highly unlikely because of the economic impact it would have.Retirees should be able to count on receiving a benefit increase come January. The Senior Citizens' League, a nonprofit organization that advocates for seniors, projects the 2026 COLA will be 2.7%. Unfortunately, most retirees probably won't see all of this increase hit their checking accounts or savings accounts. Medicare Part B premiums are expected to soar by 11.6% next year. Since most retirees have those premiums deducted directly from their Social Security payments, that high Medicare increase will offset a significant portion of the COLA.We'll know the exact amount of next year's Social Security COLA... sometime.","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":false,"code":"91000000","status":"200"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.35.12","shortVersion":"4.35.12","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2572294513","isCrawlerRequest":true}