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Social Security

Social Security Increases in 2020 Will Be Noticeably Smaller Than This Year

By
Chris Morris
Chris Morris
Former Contributing Writer
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By
Chris Morris
Chris Morris
Former Contributing Writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 13, 2019, 12:11 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 18:  In this photo illustration U.S. Treasury checks are piled at the U.S. Treasury printing facility July 18, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. President Obama recently stated that he can't guarantee retirees will receive their Social Security checks in August if the House and Senate can not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit.  (Photo Illustration by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 18: In this photo illustration U.S. Treasury checks are piled at the U.S. Treasury printing facility July 18, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. President Obama recently stated that he can't guarantee retirees will receive their Social Security checks in August if the House and Senate can not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit. (Photo Illustration by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)Photo Illustration by William Thomas Cain—Getty Images

Social Security checks, on average, will be higher in 2020 than they were in 2019. But the amount of that increase will be nearly half of the one retirees saw this year.

The Senior Citizen’s League has issued a new estimate for cost of living increases for next year, saying beneficiaries will get a 1.6% boost in 2020, compared to the 2.8% bump they saw this year.

In real world dollars and cents, that would increase the average retiree benefit of $1,460 by roughly $23.40 per month. In January of this year, those recipients saw a $40.90 increase to their Social Security benefits.

The official cost of living adjustment will be announced in under a month. However, says the League, the average increases over the past decade are less than half what they were between 2000 and 2009.

The good news, though, is Medicare Part B premiums will likely see an increase over the 2019 one. Those are expected to jump to $144.30 per month in 2020 from $135.50 this year.

“After the deduction for Part B premiums, that would leave the retirees with average benefits, roughly $15 per month more to cover all other rising costs which typically include higher Medicare supplemental and prescription drug insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs,” the league said in a statement.

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About the Author
By Chris MorrisFormer Contributing Writer

Chris Morris is a former contributing writer at Fortune, covering everything from general business news to the video game and theme park industries.

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