Less than a month after the historically high 5.9% COLA was announced for Social Security benefits in 2022, two pieces of unwelcome news arrived in rapid succession.

• On November 10, the U.S. DOL Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the previous 12 months ending in October increased by 2%. In other words, the purchasing power of Social Security benefits had already eroded before the new COLA went into effect, and it will likely decrease even further over the next 12 months.
• On November 12, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that the basic Medicare Part B monthly premium will jump from $148.50 in 2021 to $170.10 – an increase of just over 5%. The annual Part B deductible increases from $203 to $233 (14.78%).
• For joint filers who had more than $182,000 of Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) in 2020 – and for individual filers who had more than $91,000 of MAGI in 2020 – the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMAA) increase as well. See https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/part-b-costs for details.