--- title: Meager Social Security Benefits Are a Drain on America’s Retirees, Research Shows description: A study found that retirees would need more than $500 extra a month in Social Security benefits to match their purchasing power in 2000. authors: - name: Mary Ellen Cagnassola role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/ bio: Mary Ellen (M.E.) Cagnassola is a former Money reporter specializing in Social Security and retirement coverage, with a focus on making complex policy accessible to readers. education: Rutgers University, BA Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 205 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true editors: - name: Kristen Bahler role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/kristen-bahler/ bio: Kristen Bahler has spent more than a decade turning culture, work and consumer spending trends into conversation-driving stories. Today, she leads Money's sponsored content channel and reader-favorite franchises like Best Places to Live and Best Places to Travel. education: Northeastern University, MA Journalism at_money_since: 2016 articles: 52 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-bahler/ published: '2023-05-11T15:43:13.000Z' modified: '2023-06-23T19:49:42.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News - Retirement word_count: 454 canonical: https://money.com/social-security-2023-not-enough/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Illustration of a social security card as a shopping cart losing it's value](https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-Social-Security-Lost-Buying-Power.jpg?crop=0px%2C166px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Rising costs have taken a sizable bite out of [Social Security](https://money.com/social-security-quiz-retirement-benefits/) recipients' purchasing power, according to new research. Every year, to counteract inflation, the government applies a cost-of-living-adjustment ([COLA](https://money.com/social-security-cola-next-year-2024/)) to Social Security benefits. The average monthly benefit in 2023 is the highest it's ever been ($1,453.20), but living costs have risen even higher — and retirees aren't getting enough to keep up with inflation. A [study](https://seniorsleague.org/assets/LOBP-Study-2023.pdf) from the advocacy group Senior Citizens League released this week found that benefits are now so imbalanced that retirees 85 and older would need upwards of $500 extra each month to match the buying power their benefits provided in 2000. The group compared the growth of COLAs over the last 23 years to changes in the prices of food, prescription drugs and other common goods and services used by retirees. Here's what it found. ## Planning for a secure future? Long-Term Care Insurance can help ### Regular health insurance, disability insurance, and Medicare are not designed to cover long-term care costs. Get Long-Term Care Insurance today - select your state to get a free quote. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/n85920646174?ap_referrer=%2Fsocial-security-2023-not-enough%2F&url=%2Flong-term-care-insurance%2Flp%2Fabm-pub-best-ltc-insurance) ## What the data says - The oldest Social Security recipients, those who retired before 2000, have lost an average of 36% of their purchasing power because the [COLA isn’t increasing](https://money.com/social-security-cola-increase-not-enough/) at the same pace as their cost of living. It’s one of the deepest losses recorded by the Senior Citizens League’s study, but a little better than last year, when inflation peaked and Social Security benefits lost an average of 40% of their buying power. - If Social Security benefits were as generous as they were 23 years ago, claimants would receive about $516.70 more a month in 2023. For every $100 a retired household spent on goods and services in 2000, the same household can only buy about $64 worth today. - COLAs from the beginning of 2000 to this year increased Social Security benefits by 78%, an average uptick of 3.4% a year. But that’s not nearly as much as the cost of goods and services that retirees typically use, which rose by 141.4% over the same period. ## Why it’s important Life is hardly the Margaritaville retirees may have envisioned for themselves. Funding retirement nowadays is [more difficult](https://money.com/saving-retirement-harder/) than it used to be; people are [living longer](https://money.com/how-long-retirement-lasts-survey/), and benefits and pensions are shrinking. Many Americans don't even know [how much](https://money.com/comfortable-retirement-cost-expectations/) they'll need to have saved for a comfortable retirement. What's more, the cost of living in the U.S. is also much more expensive these days: last June, [inflation](https://money.com/retirement-confidence-plunging-inflation/) climbed as high as 9.1%. The recent findings from the Senior Citizens League quantify what many elderly Americans already know: Weathering the inflation storm is particularly hard when you're on a fixed income. ## Get the care you will need after age 65 ### 70% of people 65+ will require long-term care. A Long-Term Care Insurance policy makes the process easier by helping you pay for the care you need in your golden years. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/k696436a32ba?ap_referrer=%2Fsocial-security-2023-not-enough%2F&url=%2Flong-term-care-insurance%2Flp%2Fabm-pub-best-ltc-insurance) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/1402/medium_fWrleDLaHsZEAmRdSdadlEauvRehdv.png) Getting Long-Term Care Insurance allows you to know that you're protected as you age [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/be10e253227a?ap_referrer=%2Fsocial-security-2023-not-enough%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-2023-not-enough/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Social Security", "item": "https://money.com/social-security/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Meager Social Security Benefits Are a Drain on America’s Retirees, Research Shows" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-2023-not-enough/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/social-security-2023-not-enough/", "name": "Meager Social Security Benefits Are a Drain on America’s Retirees, Research Shows", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-05-11T15:43:13.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-2023-not-enough/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-2023-not-enough/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2023-06-23T19:49:42.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Meager Social Security Benefits Are a Drain on America’s Retirees, Research Shows", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-Social-Security-Lost-Buying-Power.jpg?crop=0px%2C166px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Social-Security-Lost-Buying-Power" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Ellen Cagnassola", "url": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/#author", "description": "Mary Ellen (M.E.) 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