Social Security's 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) bumped the average benefit from $1,927 per month to $1,976 per month. It's a $49 increase, but many hoped for more. Despite slowing inflation, some retirees still find it difficult to make ends meet,

Social Security is an earned benefit. You become eligible by paying the payroll tax during your working years, and the amount you get is geared to your wage history - with a glaring exception.

Social Security has a big birthday coming up next year -- it's turning 90! It's kept many millions of people out of poverty for decades and was recently supporting more than 71 million people with around $1.5 trillion in benefits for the year.

In 1983, Congress passed a law that gradually increased the age at which people may receive 100% of their Social Security benefits from 65 to 67, a change that was felt over the following decades as Americans approached their retirement age, according to Bipartisan Policy Cente r. The increase aimed to match increasing life expectancy.

If you wait to claim spousal benefits until your full retirement age, you can receive up to half the amount of your spouse's benefit.