These States Continue Sending Out Stimulus Checks In 2023: Record Inflation Continues

Stimulus Check
Stimulus check

For Americans troubled by the high prices of essential goods, stimulus checks remain the only lifeline. Despite no new federal announcements in 2023, some states are still sending stimulus checks to families in some states. The federal administration has announced a hefty increase in Social Security benefits as they are set to rise by 8.7% by 2023.

Amid record inflation, the highest in 4 decades, Social Security beneficiaries will get a generous 8.7% hike to their benefits in 2023. The increase is the highest in the last 40 years. The Social Security Administration announced the enhancement on October 13 last year.

This hike will result in an increase in benefits by over $140 a month on average starting in 2023. The rise in Social Security by 8.7% will be the fourth biggest since automatic adjustment of inflation was introduced in 1975.

The cost-of-living-adjustment, or COLA, will be a big boost to monthly income for the aged, the blind, and the disabled. The average monthly checks that they will receive in January 2023 will see an increase between $146 and $1,827. This was revealed by the Social Security Administration.

stimulus check
Stimulus Check

That is a big spike over 2022 figures of a 5.9% increase in COLA. This year’s increase has been the largest since 1981. Earlier the COLA increase had been extremely moderate with an average of 1.7% each year between 2010 and 2020.

Cola Increase Eases Absence Of Stimulus Check For Social Security Beneficiaries

The Cost of Living Adjustment to counter the effect of rising prices has been a great boon for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries. Inflation has made it tough for low and moderate-income individuals and families to survive in the absence of any federal stimulus check in 2022. There has been a record increase in all-around prices that has affected everything from groceries to gasoline. Even service rates breached earlier records.

COLA is normally equal to the percentage of increase in the Consumer Price Index for UWE and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for a specified period. The Consumer Price Index represents the average prices of a basket of goods and is used to measure inflation. The COLA adjustment for 2023 is 8.7%, indicating that for someone receiving $10,000 in Social Security benefits, their 2023 annual benefits will increase to $10,870.

Additional Changes In Social Security Benefits In 2023

Other than the 8.7% benefit rise in 2023, Social Security recipients will also benefit from the following changes starting January 2023. Maximum earnings are subject to the SST and will see a rise to $160,200 from $147,000 in 2022. The maximum earnings of working recipients under the full age of retirement can bring in before a reduction in benefits comes to $21,240. It was only $19,560 in 2022.

The Maximum Social Security monthly benefit for a worker retiring at the full age of retirement in 2023 will rise from $3,345 to $3,627.

The average Social Security benefit paid in 2023 increases to $1,827 while it was $1,681 in 2022. For earning a single Social Security credit, it now takes $1,640, which means an increase of $130 from the figure in 2022.

Calculating The Cost Of Living Adjustment

The cost of living covers the amount of money that is necessary to cover the basic expenses. This includes housing, taxes, food, and healthcare, covering a particular time and place. It is often used to compare the actual expense of living in one city as compared to another. The living expense is linked to wages or salary.

Thus, if the expense of one city is higher, the wage level of the workers residing there is also higher. This enables people to adjust to the high costs.

The Living Expense Index compares the subsistence in a large city to that of any other metropolitan area. The LEI covers multiple subsistence-related expenses and forms a group measure that the workforce uses as a benchmark.

Various indices are used to arrive at living expenses in various ways. For instance, the Community and Economic Research council discovered that San Diego was the most expensive of cities and not New York City. The CLI measured expenses in 269 urban areas, including groceries, healthcare, and transportation, and even for such expenses as haircuts and movie tickets.

stimulus check
stimulus check

State Stimulus Check In 2023

Despite no new announcement by states on stimulus check payments, residents continue to get payments that have spilled over from 2022 payments. States stepped in to fill the void with their stimulus check payments in 2022. And a handful continues to send stimulus checks in 2023.

California is one of the states that have timed their payments to coincide with the festive season. The Middle-Class Tax Rebate, the third round of stimulus checks from the Golden State began in October and is expected to continue through January 2023.

Residents who have filed their state income tax returns for 2020 by October 15, 2021, are eligible for the payments. Residents should have an AGI below $250,000 for individuals and double that amount for married couples filing jointly.

Residents are eligible for a stimulus check up to $1,050. This amount goes to a married couple filing jointly and with an Adjusted Gross Income of $150,000 or less. A few more states are sending out checks in 2023 and thanks to them, many people will feel the pain of high inflation a little less for a couple of more months.

Idaho, for instance, will continue to send out stimulus checks to residents through the first quarter of 2023. The state has given out 3 options for stimulus checks. It is either a tenth of the income tax liability of 2022, $300 flat for single citizens, and double that for married couples filing jointly. The resident will get the greatest of the three amounts.

Any New Jersey resident with earnings of up to $150,000 will be eligible for a $450 stimulus check by May 2023. Residents of Pennsylvania who have applied by December 2022 can be eligible for a maximum refund of $650. In South Carolina, payments of up to $800 are going out to residents and will continue into March 2023.