YOUR MONEY, YOUR FUTURE Record-high inflation could mean a bigger

Social Security beneficiaries started 2022 with a 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment to their monthly checks, the highest increase in about 40 years.

But as inflation climbs with each month, the buying power of those benefits increases has diminished.

The Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers, or CPI-U, rose 8.5% from a year ago, according to March data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, another measure used by the Social Security Administration to calculate the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA — the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W — shot up 9.4% over the last 12 months.