Social Security recipients will get a 2.5% cost-of-living increase to their monthly checks beginning in January, the Social Security Administration said Thursday, though Chicagoans on fixed incomes say it's not enough.The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for retirees translates to an average increase of more than $50 for retirees every month starting Dec. 31, agency officials said. Social Security recipients received a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024 after a historically large 8.7% benefit increase in 2023, which came as a result of record 40-year-high inflation.Martin O’Malley, the commissioner of the federal agency, said the adjustment will help “tens of millions of people keep up with expenses even as inflation has started to cool.”The smaller increase for 2025 was attributed to moderating inflation, but Chicagoans who rely on the monthly checks disagree, saying inflation is still hitting hard.Phillip Jones, a 59-year-old Englewood resident, said it would bring his monthly payment up to about $1,000. He said he wishes he could receive “just a little bit more.”“You can barely pay rent, lights and then you’ve got clothing and other things,” Jones said. “Everything’s so expensive now.”Joseph Broome, another Englewood resident who receives Social Security payments, agreed. He said for some people, current checks don’t cover their costs. That includes him, which is why he works to supplement the payments he receives. With a smaller increase, some of the about 72.5 million retirees, people with disabilities and children who receive payments may still be struggling to keep up with rising prices.“People are fearful,” Broome said. “For some people, that may be their only source of income. I’m lucky I work.”Tracy Howell, a resident of Senior Suites of Kelvyn Park in Belmont-Cragin, said the increase doesn’t match what he’s seeing in stores.Howell, who has been on Social Security for six months, said the large increase years ago was helpful to those who relied on the checks, but that the increases since have dwindled but retirees are still struggling. If the increase was larger, he said he wouldn’t have to ration groceries.“The cost of living is more than a $50 a month raise,” Howell said, saying a 8-10% bump would be more in line with the “substantial” price increases he’s seen at the grocery store.The Vietnam veteran, who spent some time unhoused, said Social Security allowed him to secure an apartment six months ago, though money has still been tight. The program is financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers. The maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes was $168,600 for 2024, up from $160,200 in 2023. That maximum is slated to increase in 2025 to $176,100. In 2023, the program paid out about $1.4 trillion to those who qualified for it.The national social insurance plan faces a severe financial shortfall in coming years. The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released in May said the program’s trust fund won’t be able to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. If the trust fund is depleted, the government will be able to pay only 83% of scheduled benefits, the report said.Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley said there is a push for the Social Security Administration to use a different index to calculate the cost-of-living increase that measures price changes based on the spending patterns of older people on things such as health care, food and medicine costs.The COLA is now calculated according to the Consumer Price Index, a market basket of consumer goods and services. O’Malley said lawmakers who are advocating for a shift “are advancing a very sound policy.”Armando Perez, another resident Senior Suites of Kelvyn Park, said in an ideal world, he’d take his family on a nice vacation and allow himself to relax after a long life of work. However, with his current financial situation and another small Social Security increase on the horizon, he doesn't see that as a possibility.“When I pass away, I want to leave money to my family, but right now I need it for myself to live day to day,” Perez, 86, said through an interpreter. “Everything I had, they already took for [rent].”Perez said he has been able to get rental assistance with his gas and electric bills through local programs but still struggles to get meat at the grocery store.“You have to buy a pound here, a pound there, you never really have enough,” he said through an interpreter. “I have very little to be able to go out and do something fun or travel. … I’ve worked here my whole life and I’m not getting enough.”