Military retirees and veterans receiving disability pay from the Department of Veterans Affairs are likely to see record monthly check increases for the second year running thanks to the pace of inflation, according to new estimates.
The annual VA disability pay and military retirement cost-of-living pay adjustment, known as COLA, is typically tied to the Social Security rate change, which will likely be announced in October. An early projection based on national inflation data by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a nonpartisan senior advocacy nonprofit, estimates rates will rise by 9.6%.
That increase would be the highest veterans and seniors have seen since 1981, when it went up 11.2% in response to inflation at the time, according to a TSCL press release.
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For 2023, that means military retirees would see an average increase of more than $240 in their monthly retirement checks. Veterans receiving disability compensation from the VA also would see their monthly disability payments increase, with the average monthly amount going up by more than $150.
The VA says nearly 5.2 million veterans receive disability compensation, with an annual benefit of $18,858 as of 2021. According to the Defense Department, there are around 1.87 million military retirees, who had an annual average retirement payment of $30,265 in 2020, the most recent year for which…
