$2,170 is the new average, and your own number is different.
A free sign-in shows the 2027 figure that applies to you
WHAT CHANGED?
Your Social Security payment is going up 3.6 percent next year. Social Security announced it on October 14, and it is the largest increase since 2023. The higher amount arrives with January 2027 payments. If you receive Supplemental Security Income, yours starts a few days earlier, on December 31, 2026.
Now the part the headlines skip. The 3.6 percent is settled. What actually lands in your bank account is not, because the 2027 Medicare Part B premium has not been published, and for most people that premium comes out of the payment before it reaches the bank. Social Security's own 2027 adjustment figures list everything decided this week.
WHO IS AFFECTED?
Nearly 72 million people receiving Social Security and about 7.3 million receiving Supplemental Security Income, roughly 76 million Americans in all.
Anyone whose payment has a Medicare premium taken out of it, which is most people once they enroll. Your raise and your premium are set by two different agencies, on two different timetables.
Anyone still working. For 2027 the earnings limit before full retirement age rises to $25,560.
You do not have to wait for a letter to find out where you stand. Your free my Social Security account already holds the figure this raise applies to.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The number you will see quoted everywhere is $75. That is what 3.6 percent adds to the average retired worker's payment, which rises from $2,095 to $2,170 a month.
It is not your number. The 3.6 percent applies to your own payment, so on a $1,400 payment the raise is roughly $50, and on a $3,000 payment it is roughly $108. The most anyone claiming at full retirement age can receive goes from $4,152 to $4,188.
Then comes the deduction. Medicare.gov still shows the 2026 standard Part B premium of $202.90 a month, because the 2027 premium has not been announced. Until it is, nobody can tell you your January figure.
Here is the reassuring part, and it is a real rule. If your dollar raise is not large enough to cover the increase in your Part B premium, Social Security limits that premium increase so your payment does not shrink. It does not cover everyone: not people new to Part B, not people who pay the higher income-related premium, and not people whose premium a state Medicaid agency pays. For most people, though, it is a floor under the check.
My honest take: the raise is good news and the suspense is temporary. Get your own starting figure now, and when your 2027 amount becomes visible the arithmetic takes thirty seconds.
WHAT TO DO
Sign in to your free my Social Security account and print the benefit verification letter, which states the exact monthly amount you receive today. That figure, not the average, is what the 3.6 percent applies to.
If you do not have an account yet, create one by November 18. Accounts opened by that date can read the 2027 cost-of-living notice in the Message Center in late November. Miss it and you wait for the mailed notice in December.
Your raise is settled, but keeping the payment intact is a separate job: late or short deposits, overpayment letters, and what a creditor cannot touch. The Social Security Check Protection Kit covers each of those in order, with worksheets, contacts and a deadline calendar built in.
One question for you: do you already have a my Social Security account, or will this be your first sign-in? Hit reply and tell me. I read every reply, and what you tell me decides what I cover next.
Know someone on Social Security who will wait for the December envelope without knowing they had a choice? Forward this to them, or send them your personal sign-up link so they get the next one too.
SOURCE: Social Security's 2027 cost-of-living adjustment fact sheet.
Written by Ellen Marsh
Retirement Money Brief is educational information only — not financial, tax, or legal advice. We will never ask you for an account number, Social Security number, password, or payment.