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Social Security benefit to increase 1.3% in 2021

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reporters@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The US Social Security Administration (SSA) announced this week that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase by 1.3% in 2021.

The 1.3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries — including those in American Samoa — in January 2021. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2020.

The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to SSA, some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages.  Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $142,800 from $137,700. 

Social Security and SSI beneficiaries are normally notified by mail starting in early December about their new benefit amount. (Additionally information on www.ssa.gov]