by Calculated Risk on 10/15/2015 09:10:00 AM
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Cost of Living Adjustment Unchanged in 2016, Contribution Base also Unchanged
With the release of the CPI report this morning, we now know the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), and the contribution base for 2016.
Currently CPI-W is the index that is used to calculate the Cost-Of-Living Adjustments (COLA). Here is a discussion from Social Security on the current calculation (no increase) and a list of previous Cost-of-Living Adjustments. Note: this is not the headline CPI-U.
The contribution and benefit base will be unchanged at $118,500 in 2016.
The National Average Wage Index increased to $46,481.52 in 2014, up 3.55% from $44,888.16 in 2013 (used to calculate contribution base). However, by law, since COLA was unchanged, the contribution base will be unchanged in 2016.