More than 74 million Americans can expect a healthy inflation adjustment to their Social Security benefits next year — just not as large as this year’s historic 8.7 percent raise.The recent slowdown in inflation points to a 2024 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, of around 3 percent, according to a forecast by the Senior Citizens League. That would still be higher than the average 2.6 percent adjustment over the past two decades, said Mary Johnson, a policy analyst for the league, a nonpartisan seniors’ organization.“People need to be real — we just went through rates of inflation we haven’t seen in four decades,” she said. “A 3 percent COLA would be nothing to sneeze at.” Other estimates point to a possible raise of just over 3 percent.The COLA is a crucial feature of Social Security that helps seniors and other beneficiaries keep up with inf …
