2023 COLA Announcement
This video is 6 minutes and 23 seconds long. Please watch the entire video and read the link before you ask questions. Thank you!
Transcript:
Video description:
A white Deaf female is sitting at her desk with dark blue wall on her right and light blue wall on her left. She is wearing a navy-blue sweater and teal-blue top rimmed eyeglasses. She has a short dark salt-pepper hair.
Hello and good morning! I will talk about the COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) which occurs every year. Increases for SS Retirement benefits, SSDI, SSI, etc. I will explain these as best as I can.
This announcement was yesterday- announcing the increase of 8.7% COLA. For people who receive SSDI – specifically, SSDI – as you know these amounts are not all the same. That being said, if you want to know how much your increase is you will need to do the math yourselves or wait until you log into your “My Social Security” account to see the amounts. That information may not be updated at this time but should be soon.
So how to calculate your SSDI increase? Suppose – for example, your SSDI is currently $1,000/month. You can multiply this amount by .087. (Checking computer monitor to double check). Right, it is 8.7% - so 1,000 X .087 would give you the answer, 87. That is $87 increase to your $1,000. This means $1,087/month is what you will get next year. You can calculate the same way to your SSDI amount. So, if your SSDI is $2,000, you can multiply 2000 by .087. Same calculation.
Now, for people on SSDI who are working- the substantial gainful activity (SGA) for 2023 is a lot more. Currently, for 2022, the SGA is $1,350/month – that will go up to $1,470/month for 2023. This means that you can work and earn up to $1,470/month without losing SSDI. For people who are blind and receiving SSDI, they can work and earn up to $2,460/month for 2023.
For people on SSDI who have not used their Trial Work Period (9 months), the amount for 2023 is $1,050, also an increase from this year which is $970/month. Oftentimes, people misunderstand by thinking that this amount is a limit when it is NOT a limit. It is not true that you must earn less than this amount. You can earn as much as you want – even over $1,050/month. When this happens, you still KEEP SSDI! Social Security will count that month as the first trial work month, which means you would have 8 trial work months left. These months (1 through 9) do not have to be consecutive. The month is ONLY counted when the earnings are over $1,050/month. If your earnings are less than $1,050/month during the Trial Work Period, that month will simply not count as a trial work month. Again, you do not lose SSDI during the Trial Work Period. Many people misunderstand this – thinking that they must limit their earnings to below the Trial Work Period threshold. After the Trial Work Period ends, that is when there is a “limit.” That would be $1,470/month (2023).
Now onto SSI. For singles, the SSI amount is $841/month for this year – this will be increased to $914/month next year. For married couples or couples who are eligible for SSI, they receive one check in the amount of $1,371/month for 2023.
There is more information- such as the Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE), which is a lot more than last year: $2,220/month with a maximum of $8,950 each year. SEIE are for students who are receiving SSI, under the age of 22, and attending school who are working wil not have their SSI cash benefits affected as long as these earnings are less than $8.950/year or $2,220/month.
That’s it from me. I will post the link to the COLA press release from Social Security. Hope this is helpful. Have a good day and thank you! waves bye.
Link: https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsh...