EXPLAINER: Why Social Security COLA will jump next year

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rising inflation is expected to lead to a sizeable increase in Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for the year 2022. Exactly how much will be revealed Wednesday morning. Over the last 10 years, the COLA averaged about 1.7% annually as inflation remained low. But the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has seen rising prices for a wide range of goods and services, and that’s expected to translate to bigger checks for retirees. The biggest annual COLA increase in recent memory was 5.8% for 2009. Wednesday’s number could rival that.