Retirees Could See Bigger Social Security Checks Soon - Here's How Much

In 2026, retirees and other beneficiaries will receive an official Social Security COLA increase of 2.8%, which amounts to another $56 per month, per the Social Security Administration (SSA). But now, there's a Senate bill to give Social Security recipients and other beneficiaries even more money, at least for a little while.

If passed, S.3078, or the Social Security Emergency Inflation Relief Act, will provide an extra $200 a month for six months between January and June 2026 for Social Security recipients as well as those who receive Supplemental Security Income, railroad retirement benefits, and veterans' disability compensation or pension benefits. But there is a catch: the extra $200 would only be given to people residing in the United States, including its overseas territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. So, if you moved to retire outside the United States, you're out of luck. There's a reason for the geographic limitation: The purpose of the extra $200 is to offset inflation within the U.S.

Introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the bill is co-sponsored by 11 other senators from the Democratic party: Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer of New York, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Alex Padilla of California, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Peter Welch of Vermont, and Mark Kelly of Arizona.

The bill was proposed a few days after the Social Security Administration officially made its 2.8% COLA (cost of living adjustment) announcement on October 24, 2025, which Senator Warren asserted on X was "not enough in Trump's economy." Indeed, inflation for all items rose 3% in the span of a year as of September 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). More specifically, the cost of food went up 3.1%, the cost of shelter increased by 3.6%, and medical care services climbed 3.9%, per the BLS.

In response to the bill, The White House told Newsweek that "President Trump will always protect and strengthen Social Security, which is why he signed historic legislation removing taxes on Social Security benefits for nearly all beneficiaries." This is in reference to the Big Beautiful Bill's senior deductions for people aged 65 and over. The various tax breaks in Trump's bill, however, will make the Social Security Old Age and Survivors trust fund and Medicare's Hospital Insurance trust fund insolvent by 2032, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. In turn, this would lead to inevitable benefit cuts for recipients.