COLA Calculator
VA compensation rises each year with the cost of living adjustment. Enter your current monthly amount and see the bump, monthly and annual.
Your compensation after COLA
Each year VA compensation rises with the cost-of-living adjustment. Enter your current monthly amount to see the bump.
Educational only · not a loan offer, financial advice, or insurance quote.
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Four moves, in order.
Start from your current monthly amount
Use the figure on your most recent benefit summary letter or the deposit that lands each month. Include dependents and any special monthly compensation, because the adjustment applies to the whole payment.
Apply the year's percentage
The VA adjustment matches the Social Security cost of living adjustment, which is announced each October and takes effect with the December payment, paid at the end of December or start of January.
Read the monthly and annual lift
The calculator shows the new monthly amount, the difference, and the annual difference. Small percentages on a large payment add up over a year.
Carry it into the rest of your numbers
A higher compensation figure changes the gross-up on a mortgage file and the cash flow in a plan. Take the new number to the other two calculators.
New monthly amount = Current amount × (1 + COLA)
$2,000 × 1.028 = $2,056
The adjustment is applied to the published rate tables, and each rate is rounded. Your new amount can differ from a straight multiplication by a dollar or so. The calculator is an estimate; the benefit summary letter is the number.
What a professional does with this.
Use the current year figure, documented
Qualifying income should reflect the payment actually being received. When a new adjustment has taken effect, the updated benefit letter is the document that supports it.
- Match the income to the current benefit letter
- Recheck files that straddle the December adjustment
- Pair with the gross-up calculator
Model an inflation linked floor
Compensation is one of the few income streams in a household that adjusts with the cost of living. That changes how much inflation risk the rest of the plan has to carry.
- Treat compensation as an indexed floor
- Revisit withdrawal assumptions each January
- Separate compensation from taxable retired pay
Size coverage to the indexed number
A protection gap calculated on last year's payment is already out of date. Use the current amount and note that it moves each year.
- Use the current year figure in the illustration
- Note which income continues to survivors
- Document the assumptions
Where the number goes sideways.
Congress passes the Veterans' Compensation Cost of Living Adjustment Act each year to tie the VA figure to the Social Security adjustment. The percentage this calculator uses, and the date it was verified, are printed under the result.
Frequently asked.
When does the new amount show up?
When does the new amount show up?
With the December payment, which arrives at the end of December or the start of January depending on your bank.
Does the adjustment apply to dependents and SMC?
Yes. The whole monthly payment is adjusted, because the rate tables themselves are adjusted.
Is the VA adjustment always the same as Social Security?
It has matched the Social Security cost of living adjustment each year under the annual act. The calculator uses the published figure for the year shown.
Will this change my rating?
No. The adjustment changes the dollar amount paid at each rating. Your rating is a separate decision.
Know the new number before it lands.
The adjustment is announced in October and paid in December. The SITREP sends the figure the week it is published.
Get the SITREP