With fewer Part D plans and a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap, beneficiaries must rethink their Medicare drug coverage for 2025. Medicare expert Jae Oh shares what’s new and how to adjust.

With a little more than a month before the 2025 COLA kicks in, here's what you should know about the upcoming adjustment.

Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are calculated based on how inflation changes in the third quarter, the three-month period from July through September. In this scenario, inflation is measured using a subset of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) known as the CPI-W.

Each year, the SSA increases the benefits payments to match inflation. To help beneficiaries budget notices are sent. Here’s when you’ll get yours.

But when we look back at the data, it becomes clear that a 2.5% Social Security COLA isn't so terrible. In fact, it's a lot more generous than some of the COLAs beneficiaries have seen in the past. In 2024, Social Security benefits rose by 3.2%. The year prior, they increased by 8.7%. And in 2022, a 5.9% COLA came through.

A 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment increase will mean an extra $50 a month for most Social Security and SSI recipients.