There will be a 0.3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security for 2017, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced Oct. 18.
The slight increase comes after the SSA held rates for 2016 at the same rates they set for 2015, which was the third time since 2010 that the SSA had done so.
More than 65 million retirees, disabled workers, spouses and children get Social Security benefits. Increased payments will begin for the more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries on Dec. 30, 2016; for other Social Security beneficiaries, they will begin in January.
Based on COLA increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $127,200 for from the 2016 level of $118,500. Of the estimated 173 million workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2017, about 12 million will pay more because of the increase in the taxable maximum.
