By Alex Moore, Editor
Last May, average Social Security payments for retired workers surpassed $2,000 for the first time. In terms of raw dollar amount, retirees bring in more from benefits than ever before, yet nonetheless, satisfaction with Social Security payments remains low.
Just 13 percent of seniors feel satisfied with their benefits, according to TSCL’s 2026 Senior Survey, which is available free here and includes Census-weighted responses from 904 older Americans. About nine in 10 said the 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment of 2.8 percent was too low and their monthly checks would fall behind inflation. Medicare fared little better, with only 18 percent of seniors satisfied with the program’s cost or coverage.
Why? Ample evidence suggests seniors are right when they tell us their benefits have fallen behind.
Let’s go by the numbers. TSCL’s 2026 Loss of Buying Power suggests that Social Security checks have lost 13.7 percent of their value over the last 10 years. To restore their value to 2016 levels, they would need to rise by $295.85 per month for the average beneficiary. Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment runs over $1,500 per month, and even a bag of coffee costs nearly $10! According to the Government Accountability Office, about 20 percent of America’s 770,000 homeless are age 55 or older.
Even worse, all this comes as a crisis looms. According to the Social Security Administration, the program is on track to enact an automatic 22 percent benefits cut in 2032 when its trust fund reserves run out. (Social Security pays out more in benefits than it brings in via tax revenue, which is causing the shortfall.) With seniors already struggling, poverty in the aging population could skyrocket if this comes to pass.
So, what are we going to do about it? At TSCL, we’re lobbying Congress to immediately start working on legislation to both raise benefits and close the revenue shortfall that risks causing automatic benefit cuts. However, we need your help. All too often, members of Congress tell us they don’t prioritize senior issues because they don’t hear about them from their constituents. So, write your Congressperson, call your senator’s office, and as this year’s midterm elections approach, go to town hall meetings ready to ask questions about how candidates plan to not just protect, but strengthen your benefits.
