Social Security COLA for 2027: How to find out how much more you'll get

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The Social Security Administration announced a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2027 . Beginning in January, benefits will rise by about $75 a month for the average retiree, the largest COLA increase in four years. Here's how to find out how much more you'll see in your own check next year.

The Social Security Administration will send COLA notices throughout December to Social Security and Social Security Income recipients, roughly 75 million beneficiaries in all.

Your exact new benefit won't be available until early December, when most beneficiaries can view their notice online.

You can find out exactly how much your benefits will increase by creating an account on SSA.gov ahead of time . After verifying your account, you'll be able to get an estimate of your retirement benefits and see how those benefits may change depending on your retirement age .

You'll receive notice of your exact adjustment in the "messages" tab within your SSA portal. To ensure you don't miss any news, select email or text notifications under message center preferences.

You can also estimate the change yourself and calculate your new Social Security benefit by multiplying the percentage increase by your current monthly benefit amount.

Say you're receiving $2,095, which is around the current average monthly benefit for retirees. When multiplied by 3.6% or 0.036, the new COLA, you can expect a monthly benefit in 2027 of about $2,170.42 — a $75.42 increase.

Leaving the workforce changes how you cover your day-to-day expenses. According to the SSA, Social Security benefits account for about 31% of income for people over age 65, and nearly 9 out of 10 Americans 65 and older receive Social Security.

With a modest monthly benefit, elevated interest rates, and higher food prices, it can be difficult for the average retired worker to make ends meet. However, there are ways you can stretch and supplement those benefits to accommodate your lifestyle.

Parking your Social Security payments, or a portion of them, in an interest-bearing account is an easy way to boost retiree benefits. In fact, many banks and credit unions are currently offering high-yield savings accounts with rates of up to 4%.

Retirees who can set aside a portion of their monthly Social Security check might benefit from a certificate of deposit (CD). Because you're committing to locking up your funds for a set period, banks and credit unions typically offer more lucrative APYs for these accounts.

A money market account is another type of account that generates interest, but unlike CDs, these accounts offer easier access to your funds through debit cards or check-writing privileges.

The annual COLA is based on the percentage increase in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Data from the third quarter of the last year to the third quarter of the current year is used to calculate the COLA.

Making the most of your benefit checks starts with knowing exactly how much you'll receive.

Here's a primer on navigating the SSA website:

Setting up your My Social Security account is fairly straightforward and can be done at any time, whether retirement is months or years away.

Beneficiaries will need to provide their email address and at least one additional form of authentication, such as a phone number or a secondary email address, to verify their identity.

Next, you'll be asked for key information, including your Social Security number, your full name as it appears on your Social Security card, your date of birth, your address, and your phone number.

Once your account is set up, you can use it to manage your benefits, estimate your future benefits, request a Social Security card if you've lost yours, check the status of a benefits application, and more. You can also opt to receive all of your notices online, rather than by mail.

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