Military retirement checks and Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits are on track to increase by 3.6 percent in 2027 following an annual cost-of-living adjustment.
Military retirement checks and Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits are on track to increase by 3.6% in 2027 following an annual cost-of-living adjustment that the Social Security Administration announced on Wednesday.
The effective date is Dec. 1, but veterans should expect to see the increase reflected in their VA disability payments on Dec. 31 or in early January 2027.
Retired military members will receive a $36 increase per $1,000 of retirement pension received monthly. More than 8 million military retirees and veterans receive monthly benefit payments. The annual COLA rate, which is tied to inflation, is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Veterans do not need to submit any paperwork. The increase will be applied automatically.
VA disability compensation rates will increase by the same percentage as Social Security benefits, after Congress passes — and the president signs — the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act.
By law, military pensions and Social Security have permanent, built-in statutory language that allows their COLAs to trigger automatically without legislative intervention. But VA disability benefits do not have the same clause. Instead, Congress must pass a specific bill every year to direct the VA to increase compensation rates, after the COLA is determined.
The bill requires the VA to increase the amount payable for wartime disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children, according to language in the legislation.
But veterans still may not see much relief at the cash register. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that prices in September were 3.7% higher than a year earlier. September’s rate was higher than August, which was at 3.4%, the bureau reported.
“It’s important to keep in mind that a larger COLA is not necessarily a financial gain. It may seem like good news, but it generally reflects higher prices for goods and services. A bigger COLA may simply mean you’re also paying more for gas, groceries or other expenses,” according to First Command Financial Services, of Texas, which offers financial coaching and investment planning to veterans and the military community.
Adam Jacob has a 100% VA disability rating for PTSD and a back injury, after serving in the Marine Corps and Army, with deployments to Kosovo, Iraq and Syria. But Jacob, 48, said he does not expect that the cost-of-living increase to his monthly disability check will make a big difference as he tries to live within his household budget.
“The COLA [cost of living adjustment] never really keeps up with inflation. The extra dollars each month for someone who is 100% disabled are not life changing. Don’t get me wrong. I am still grateful for it,” said Jacob, who is unemployed and relies on a service dog.
Jacob said that, in his view, veterans on fixed incomes would fare better if their VA disability payments were divided into two payments per month.
“I live from check to check and am running out of money at the end of each month,” he said.
The 3.6% increase covers all types of VA disability benefits, including standard disability compensation, total disability based on individual unemployability, special monthly compensation, and dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors.
The Social Security Administration is required by law to use a specific, mathematical formula linked directly to inflation data that looks at price shifts in consumer expenses when determining the annual COLA rate change.
Instead of tracking an entire year, the formula takes the average from the third quarter — July, August and September — and compares it to the most recent year a COLA was approved, according to the Social Security Administration.
With inflation ticking upward through September, the comparison yielded a 3.6% increase for 2027, compared with 2.8% in 2026 and 2.5% in 2025.
Veterans with a 100% disability rating and no dependents, for example, will see their monthly benefits rise from $3,939 to $4,080 in 2027, according to CCK Law, which helps veterans with their disability claims. Veterans with a 10% disability rating and no dependents will receive $186.92 per month, up from $180.42 in 2026.
“I know groceries, utilities and everyday expenses continue to stretch household budgets. Every additional dollar matters,” Brett Martin, a retired Navy captain who heads the Oklahoma Veterans Commission, said on social media.
Tens of millions of civilian retirees collecting Social Security will receive the 3.6% increase in their monthly checks, too.
The full retirement age for Social Security is 66 or 67, depending on the recipient’s birth year, according to the Social Security Administration.
- Veterans Benefits