Retirees will get important clues into their COLA this month.
Seniors should pay careful attention to the CPI-W numbers.
The Federal Reserve meeting will also offer insight into economic trends.
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Retirees who collect Social Security benefits should put two dates on their calendar in March. On these days, seniors will receive news that could provide insight into how much their next Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) will be.
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COLAs result in Social Security benefits going up slightly in most years. In 2026, for example, retirees received a 2.8% COLA, which means they got a 2.8% boost to their monthly retirement benefit. Periodic benefit increases help to ensure that retirees don’t lose financial ground as a result of rising prices. If benefits stayed the same every year while prices rose due to inflation, eventually Social Security benefits would buy very little for seniors.
While retirees won’t find out the official amount of the Cost of Living Adjustment until October, if they check the news on these two March dates, they’ll get some important clues regarding what their future benefits are going to look like.
The two important March dates that seniors need to pay attention to include:
March 11, 2026
March 18, 2026
The first date is when the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release the February CPI numbers. CPI stands for Consumer Price Index. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks the costs of a basket of goods and services that are part of this financial index. By seeing how much all of these goods and services cost, and comparing that number to CPI numbers from prior months, the BLS can get an estimate for the economic inflation that is occurring.
The second date is the meeting of the Federal Reserve, which is the U.S. Central Bank. The Fed sets benchmark interest rates (the rates financial institutions pay to borrow from each other). If the Fed thinks inflation is increasing, it will often raise interest rates to try to tighten the money supply. If the Fed thinks inflation is under control and the labor market is softening, then the Fed may lower interest rates to try to bolster demand by making borrowing cheaper.
While the Fed’s decision on rates won’t directly control the cost of consumer borrowing, it can have downstream effects — and it also sheds light on the condition of the economy as a whole.
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The March dates are important to Social Security retirees because Cost of Living Adjustments are based directly on inflation. When a specific consumer price index — the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) — shows costs are up year-over-year, then retirees get a benefits increase equal to the percentage increase in the CPI-W.
The official COLA is calculated based on CPI-W data from the third quarter of the year, so it will be months yet before we can know the COLA for certain. However, looking at the CPI data and listening to the Fed announcement will help seniors to see which way the economy is trending and whether inflation is likely to be more or less of an issue in 2027. This can provide early insight into how much their Cost of Living Adjustment will be.
Retirees can also work with a financial advisor to better understand the impact of inflation and COLAs on their overall spending plan so they can make sure their retirement is a financially secure one.
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