Interest Rate Pause Leaves Social Security Unchanged—but Could Shape Future COLAs

Quick Read

• The Fed paused interest rates at its April meeting.

• That decision won’t have an impact on Social Security benefits.

• The Fed’s action — or inaction — could have an indirect affect on next year’s Social Security COLA.

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When the Federal Reserve opted to hold interest rates steady in April, it didn’t necessarily come as a huge surprise. The Fed hiked rates aggressively to cool inflation in the wake of the pandemic. But the Fed has been slow to reserve those raise hikes. And a big part of the reason is that inflation has remained stubbornly elevated.

March’s Consumer Price Index saw inflation rise 3.3% on an annual basis. That’s a notch above the Fed’s preferred long-term 2% target. As such, it made sense for the Fed to pause interest rates in April and wait things out.

You may be wondering how the Fed’s decision might impact your Social Security benefits. Here’s what you need to know

Fed rate decisions don’t change Social Security checks

Even though the Fed has a lot of economic influence, its interest rate decisions have no immediate effect on Social Security benefits. Those payments are determined based on a formula that’s tied to workers’ wages and filing ages.

Social Security benefits are eligible for a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) each year. Those COLAs are based on inflation.

But the Fed doesn’t cause inflation — it responds to it. So all told, whether the Fed opts to raise interest rates, cut rates, or pause rates, it won’t change your Social Security checks from one month to the next. This year’s COLA is already set in stone at 2.8%, and nothing the Fed does between now and December 31 will change that.

Slower spending could lead to a smaller COLA in 2027

The Fed’s interest rate decisions don’t have a direct impact on Social Security COLAs. But they can affect those raises indirectly.

Because the Fed chose not to lower interest rates in April, borrowing costs remain relatively high compared to the ultra-low levels seen in previous years. This environment tends to encourage more cautious consumer behavior.

After all, when it’s more expensive to run a tab on your credit card or sign a loan, it’s natural to curb spending. But if consumers continue to spend their money conservatively, demand for goods and services could soften. That could, in turn, lead to lower prices.

That’s a good thing in theory. But it could lead to a smaller Social Security COLA in 2027. And for seniors who are relying on a big raise in the new year, that’s bad news.

Of course, the fact that the Fed paused rates in April doesn’t automatically mean consumer spending will grind to a halt. But the Fed’s interest rate freeze also means consumers may not exactly start rushing to spend money freely.

Now you should know that Social Security COLAs are based on third quarter inflation data. So it’s too soon to predict with any sort of certainty what next year’s raise will amount to.

But all told, the Fed’s rate pause won’t change your monthly Social Security payments today, and it may not even have a huge impact on the raise you end up with next year. What the Fed’s decision does impact, though, is the cost of borrowing. So if you’ve been thinking of signing a loan, you may want to sit tight a bit longer.

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