Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) affect Social Security, retirement pay and veterans benefits like Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation, annual military-base-pay cost-of-living increases, and location-based cost-of-living increases.
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COLA for Social Security Benefits, Military Retirement Pay, and VA Disability Benefits
Several government pension, benefit and compensation programs are tied to the Social Security Administration’s COLA rate. Military retirement pay, VA disability compensation, Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) savings and some other government compensation increase in tandem with COLA rates.
COLA offsets the impact of inflation on the purchasing power for such compensation. Percentage increases in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) determine COLA.
Federal law ties veterans benefits to COLA increases, however, Congress must pass a new version of the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act each year.
How Is COLA Calculated?
The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys over 80,000 goods and services to determine CPI-W. Increases in goods and services the index covers result in increased COLA the following year.
If there is no change or decrease in the cost of goods and services, there is no increase in the COLA. However, price decreases don’t decrease COLA-based benefits.
For example, when the CPI-W showed a negative inflation rate in 2015, the Social Security Administration did not increase COLA in 2016. As a result, military and veteran compensation for certain benefits remained flat instead of increasing.
How Much is the Annual Military Retirement Pay COLA Raise?
It varies. Here is a historical record of military retirement COLA pay raises:
| Year | Annual Social Security COLA Increase |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 8.7% |
| 2022 | 5.9% |
| 2021 | 1.3% |
| 2020 | 1.6% |
| 2019 | 2.8% |
| 2018 | 2.0% |
| 2017 | 0.3% |
| 2016 | 0.0% |
| 2015 | 1.7% |
| 2014 | 1.5% |
| 2013 | 1.7% |
| 2012 | 3.6% |
| 2011 | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.0% |
| Source (SSA.gov) |
Annual COLA increases are larger in years with higher inflation. There was no COLA increase in 2010, 2011 or 2016 because of low inflation.
Which Payments Does SSA COLA Cover?
The Social Security Administration’s COLA covers the following benefits:
- Social Security Benefits — Military Social Security Benefits
- Supplemental Security Income — Social Security Disability Benefits and Social Security Benefits for Wounded Warriors
- Military Retirement Pay — Active Duty Retirement Pay, REDUX Retirement Pay and Guard and Reserve Retirement Benefits
- Federal Service Retirement Pay
- VA Disability Rates
- Veterans Pension Benefits
- Survivor Benefit Annuitants
- Certain Medicare and Medicaid Benefits
- Certain State and Federal Housing and Food Programs
You can read more about SSA COLA here and on this page.
Annual Military Pay Increases
Military members receive a pay increase in most years. This is often referred to as a military pay raise or annual cost of living adjustment. Unlike the example in the previous section, there is no automatic pay raise. And while Congress considers certain measurements when declaring pay raises, they are not tied to the CPI-W or any other specific measurement.
Instead, Congress votes pay raises into effect each year. Here are the past military pay raises:
| Year | Military Pay Raise Percentage | Military Pay Tables |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.6% | 2023 Military Pay Tables |
| 2022 | 2.70% | 2022 Military Pay Tables |
| 2021 | 3.00% | 2021 Military Pay Tables |
| 2020 | 3.10% | 2020 Military Pay Tables |
| 2019 | 2.60% | 2019 Military Pay Tables |
| 2018 | 2.40% | 2018 Military Pay Tables |
| 2017 | 2.10% | 2017 Military Pay Tables |
| 2016 | 1.30% | 2016 Military Pay Tables |
| 2015 | 1.00% | 2015 Military Pay Tables |
| 2014 | 1.00% | 2014 Military Pay Tables |
| 2013 | 1.70% | 2013 Military Pay Tables |
| 2012 | 1.60% | 2012 Military Pay Tables |
| 2011 | 1.40% | 2011 Military Pay Tables |
| 2010 | 3.40% | 2010 Military Pay Tables |
Location-Based COLA
The final type of COLA is location-based. This is a supplemental benefit added to military pay. Location-based COLA is given to offset a higher cost of living based on where the service member lives.
This can be commonly found in outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS) locations depending on living expenses, the exchange rate and other factors. Location-based COLA can also be found in certain Continental U.S. locations. COLA can vary every month in both CONUS and OCONUS locations.
Outside the Continental U.S. Cost of Living Adjustments
This is a non-taxable supplemental income. The service member’s rank of employment, years of service and number of dependents also determine the COLA payment.
Here is an overseas COLA FAQ.
Continental U.S. Cost of Living Adjustments
According to the Defense Travel Management Office, COLA “is a taxable supplemental allowance designed to help offset higher prices in the highest-cost locations in CONUS that exceed the costs in an average CONUS location by 8 percent or more. The program affects approximately 54,000 service members in 21 Military Housing Areas and 21 other counties in CONUS.”
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Michael says
The first group of CSB/Redux selectees should be coming up on the catch-up soon, and it would be a great article and interesting to see how other people faired with Redux, I think I did pretty good and tripled the CSB, within 2 years of the catch-up phase too. I had hoped to make E-8 and do 24 years and it would have offset the retirement. Active duty had other plans and ended up retired as an E-6 over 20.
My CSB went directly into TSP after taxes. (Which will be super fun to calculate after tax pay from a retirement plan) I left it there the 1st five years but realized growth would be impacted by not being able to contribute so all but a fraction is moved (leave that TSP open as an option!) to a brokerage account with a spread of 6 mutual funds to cover market sectors. 2022 has been brutal on investments but all things considered the total value is over 100k.
All of the comparison calculators that existed don’t work or target only active duty (I don’t even know if CSB/Redux is a thing anymore) so it’s impossible to calculate the difference as I can’t even find the COLA rates that go back to when I retired.
I never did any risky investments, past a commodities sector mutual fund. If I were to do it over or now I would definitely due a dividend re-investment focused ETF or three, but that is still on the horizon for my full retirement at, you guessed it 62. The final catch-up. How does that even work? Is it one time or what? Everything I find is so vague.
I just hope everyone or anyone that took CSB/Redux did as well or better than I.