Here's Why Your First Social Security Check of the Year May Have Been Smaller Than Expected

Unless you're brand new to Social Security, at this point, you've probably gotten your first monthly check of 2026. And you may have been expecting your benefits to get a nice boost.

In January, Social Security benefits received a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Based on that, you may have expected your monthly check to rise by a certain amount last month. If it didn't, there could be a pretty simple but frustrating explanation why.

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Medicare hikes may have busted your COLA

Seniors who are enrolled in Medicare while receiving Social Security have their premiums for Part B deducted from their monthly benefits automatically. This means that when the cost of Medicare Part B increases, seniors don't always get their COLA in full.

That's exactly what happened in 2026. The cost of Medicare Part B rose by $17.90, so chances are, if you didn't get as large of a Social Security boost as expected, it's because of that.

Now the good news is that Social Security benefit payments can never decrease from one year to the next due to Medicare premium hikes. The program has a hold-harmless provision that states that if a given Medicare increase exceeds your COLA, you're not penalized in the form of a smaller benefit from one year to the next.

In other words, if your monthly benefit this year is $2,000, it can't be less than $2,000 next year, regardless of what happens with COLAs and Medicare. However, there's no rule that protects seniors from having their COLA eroded heavily by Medicare hikes.

So if you're grappling with a smaller raise than expected, unfortunately, this may not simply be a 2026 issue. Rather, it has the potential to be an ongoing problem, since Medicare costs often increase from year to year.

Aim to have income outside of Social Security

Since you can't necessarily count on getting your COLA in full each year, it's important to set yourself up with retirement income outside of Social Security. For working folks, this means doing their best to build savings. But if you're already in retirement, it's harder to suddenly amass a sizable IRA balance.

Still, all isn't lost. There are steps you can take to boost your income, such as taking a part-time job or joining the gig economy. Turning your home into an income stream may also be viable if you have a room or basement to rent out.

The key is to not be too reliant on Social Security COLAs, or those benefits in general, so you're able to manage your expenses from year to year.

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