AARP Warns Flat-Rate COLA Would Cut Benefits for 80% of Social Security Recipients
Updated
Updated · AOL · Sep 9
AARP Warns Flat-Rate COLA Would Cut Benefits for 80% of Social Security Recipients
2 articles · Updated · AOL · Sep 9
Summary
80% of Social Security beneficiaries would get smaller annual inflation adjustments under a flat-rate COLA, AARP said, arguing the proposal would steadily erode purchasing power for most retirees and disabled recipients.
AARP estimated the average beneficiary would have received $34.20 a month in 2026 under the formula instead of the actual $57.90, losing $285 over the year and falling short of inflation.
The proposal would give every recipient the same dollar increase each year, pegged to the COLA received by someone at the 20th percentile, rather than applying the same percentage increase to all benefits.
Supporters including the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget say the change would boost low earners, reduce poverty and extend full trust-fund benefits by 2 years beyond the current 2032 depletion date.
The fight lands in a broader debate over fixing Social Security, with alternatives ranging from lifting the $184,500 payroll-tax cap to raising the full retirement age from 67 toward 70.