Retiree checks to rise 1.3% in 2021 amid virus fallout

Washington — Social Security recipients will get a modest 1.3% cost-of-living increase in 2021, but that might be small comfort amid worries about the coronavirus and its consequences for older people.

The increase amounts to $20 a month for the average retired worker, according to estimates released Tuesday by the Social Security Administration. That’s a little less than this year’s 1.6% cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA.

The COLA affects the personal finances of about 1 in 5 Americans, including Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees, some 70 million people in all.

The economic fallout from the pandemic has reduced tax collections for Social Security and Medicare, likely worsening their long-term financial condition. But there’s been no real discussion of either program in the personally charged election contest between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.

“It’s very difficult to talk about anything policy-wise,” said Mary Johnson, an analyst with the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League. “We are looking at a period where there are growing inadequacies in Social Security benefits, particularly for people with lower-to-middle benefits.”

With the just- announced COLA, the estimated average Social Security payment for a retired worker will be $1,543 a month next year. A typical couple’s benefits would increase $33 to $2,596 per month.

“The guaranteed benefits provided by Social Security and the COLA increase are more crucial than ever as millions of Americans continue to face the one-two punch of the coronavirus’s health and economic consequences,” AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins said.