Retirees collecting Social Security receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, to help them keep up with rising prices. The Social Security Administration calculates the COLA based on inflation data,

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will announce the 2025 COLA on Oct. 10, 2024. That's the day the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its inflation data for September. The CPI-W for September is the only missing piece of information needed for SSA to calculate next year's adjustment.

Social Security COLAs are tied directly to inflation. Therefore, when one goes down, it indicates that the other is down, too. In other words, a smaller 2025 COLA means inflation has been cooling. If that trend continues, seniors on Social Security could gain buying power in the form of lower prices in stores and in general.