There are millions of older Americans today who probably would not be able to survive financially without Social Security. The retirement benefits the program pays help keep many seniors afloat — even those who manage to bring some savings with them into their later years.
But Social Security has undergone some pretty big changes this year. And while a few of them are positive ones, others aren’t. Here are three brutal Social Security changes that should really be on everyone’s radar.
1. A wage cap increase
Social Security has to get its funding from somewhere. And most of the program’s revenue comes from payroll taxes.
Social Security limits the amount of wages it taxes each year. As a result, there’s a maximum monthly benefit the program will pay out to retirees.
This year, the maximum amount of earnings that can be taxed for Social Security purposes is $184,500. But that’s an $8,400 increase from last year, when the wage cap for Social Security was only $176,100.
It’s not unusual for Social Security’s wage cap to rise from one year to the next. But now, earners in that “in between” category of making decent money but not tons of money may be facing higher taxes they can’t afford.
See, not everyone earning $184,500 is rolling in money, even though it might seem that way. In some parts of the country, to earn $184,500 a year, you need to rent an apartment that costs $4,000 a month. So while it’s easy to ignore this change or assume that higher earners “had it coming,” it’s also important to recognize that a higher wage cap does deal some workers a harsh blow.
2. A higher earnings requirement for work credits
Most retirees earn the right to collect Social Security by working and paying into the system. To get retirement benefits, you need to earn 40 lifetime work credits. The maximum number of credits you can get each year is four.
Last year, the value of a single Social Security work credit was $1,810 of earnings. This year, it’s $1,890.
For some workers, this change is, frankly, a non-event. A lot of people earn way more than $7,650 a year and should therefore have no problem getting their four Social Security work credits in 2026. Rather, it’s a tough change for part-time or gig workers whose income may be minimal or inconsistent.
3. A 2.8% COLA
Some might argue that Social Security’s 2026 cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, does not fall under the category of being a brutal change. After all, it’s higher than the 2.5% COLA retirees got in 2025.
But here’s why a 2.8% COLA may be problematic. First, recent inflation data indicates that annual inflation is hovering close to 2.8%. If that number climbs, it could easily outpace the COLA that just arrived.
Furthermore, Social Security COLAs have long failed to keep pace with inflation due to how they’re calculated. Those COLAs are based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which does not accurately measure the costs Social Security recipients tend to face.
The nonpartisan Senior Citizens League estimates that between 2010 and 2024, Social Security recipients lost 20% of their buying power due to insufficient COLAs. Since this year’s COLA was calculated using the same ineffective method, there’s a good chance it will fail seniors as well.
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