Industry story
COLAs Apply to Your Social Security Benefit Even Before You Claim
inflation retirement-income social-security
Delaying Social Security does not cost you the inflation adjustments. COLAs accumulate on your primary insurance amount starting at age 62, whether you've filed or not, so every year you wait past 62 still picks up that year's increase. The delayed credits and the inflation adjustments stack. Waiting is not a trade-off between growth and inflation protection.
Full analysis
A listener asked whether annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs — the inflation increases Social Security applies each year) accumulate on a benefit even if you haven't filed yet. Whitney confirmed they do, beginning at age 62. Up to age 60, your earnings record is indexed for wage growth; then from the year you turn 62 onward, your primary insurance amount — the base benefit figure — receives COLA increases each year even if you have not yet filed for benefits. This means delaying past 62 does not forfeit those annual inflation adjustments.
Comments