If you want to know more about the COLA formula, read my July 24, 2017, article: The Formula: How Much Will Social Security Benefits Increase In 2018?
In short, the COLA is based on an unusual inflation index – CPI-W – and is determined by averaging the indexes for July, August and September and comparing that number with the same average for last year. The CPI-W index for September 2017 was set at 240.939, completing the equation needed to set the 2018 COLA at 2.0%.
For Social Security’s 2019 COLA, trends in CPI-W suggest a COLA increase of 3.1% to 3.2% looks likely.
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