Retirement Social Security

4 Steps Retirees Should Take With Their Social Security Benefits in May

If you rely on Social Security for income, here's a key checklist to follow.

By Maurie Backman , Edited by Laura Hohenstein

Updated May 1, 2026

Add Us On Google

Many older Americans today rely on Social Security for a stress-free retirement. But a lot of seniors on Social Security are no doubt struggling as tariff-driven inflation and soaring oil prices continue to push consumer prices higher.

Social Security benefits got a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) at the start of the year. But the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which COLAs are based on, increased 3.3% in March. This means that inflation is already outpacing that 2.8% raise. Medicare Part B hikes have also eroded this year's COLA, leaving many seniors scrambling to make ends meet.

If you're a retiree on a fixed income, now's the time to be extremely strategic with your Social Security benefits, so here are a few key moves to make this May.

Get a protection plan on all your appliances

Did you know if your air conditioner stops working, your homeowner’s insurance won’t cover it? Same with plumbing, electrical issues, appliances, and more.

A home warranty from Choice Home Warranty could pick up the slack where insurance falls short.

For a limited time, you can get your first month free with a Single Payment home warranty plan.

Get a free quote

Set priorities

The average Social Security retirement benefit today is $2,079.49 per month. In 2024, average annual spending for Americans ages 65 and over was $61,432, according to the Federal Reserve. On a monthly basis, that's a little more than with $5,100, which means seniors who get most or all of their income from Social Security may not have a lot of wiggle room in their budgets.

If that's the situation you're in, one essential thing to do in May is to prioritize your non-discretionary expenses. Those include housing, food, health care premiums, medications, utilities, and transportation needs.

Some of these categories may already be getting hit with price increases. You may be looking at higher utility bills, for example, in the wake of inflated gas prices. And higher fuel costs may also be driving your grocery bills up, because when it costs more to transport goods, consumers tend to see that expense passed along to them.

Make sure you're carving out enough money for these essentials before spending any money on discretionary items like entertainment. If you're struggling to keep up, setting up an actual budget could help.

Who really has the cheapest auto insurance in your area? Check your zip code here.

Build a cash buffer

Ideally, you have some savings and an investment portfolio to supplement your monthly Social Security checks. If so, you may have noticed that the market has been volatile since the Iran conflict broke out. To protect yourself, take the opportunity in May to build yourself a cash buffer.

What a cash buffer allows you to do is leave your investment portfolio alone when the market is down. That helps you avoid having to sell assets at a loss.

If you're not currently spending your entire Social Security check (say, because you have an IRA or 401(k) plan you're pulling from as well), you may want to park whatever portion you don't need in cash. If anything, it may give you more peace of mind during these uncertain times.

Be careful with large purchases

You may have plans to make some larger purchases in May, like buying new furniture or upgrading some electronics. Before you do that, you may want to look at your finances and make sure you can afford to shell out large sums of money.

Also, a lot of discretionary items are seeing price increases due to the aforementioned factors – tariff impacts and rampant inflation driven by rising oil prices. It could pay to wait until the conflict overseas settles down before sinking money into big-ticket items, especially if they fall more into the "want" category and less so qualify as actual needs.

If you’re over 50, take advantage of massive discounts and financial resources

Over 50? Join AARP today— because if you’re not a member you could be missing out on huge perks. When you start your membership today, you can get discounts on things like travel, meal deliveries, eyeglasses, prescriptions that aren’t covered by insurance and more.

Start your membership by creating an account here and filling in all of the information (Do not skip this step!) Doing so will allow you to take up 25% off your AARP membership, making it just $15 the first year with auto-renewal.

Set yourself up with stable fixed income

If your Social Security benefits are mostly being supplemented by a stock portfolio, you may not have such a reliable stream of backup funds. That's because stocks can be extremely volatile. And when the market is down, you generally face two options – sell assets at a loss to generate income, or deny yourself that income as you wait out a recovery and cut spending instead.

If there's any money left over in your Social Security benefits in May, consider putting it into assets that can generate a stable fixed income for you. These may include CDs and short-term Treasuries.

If you don't want to tie up your spare cash in CDs or bonds, savings are another good bet. But make sure you're keeping your money in a high-yield savings account so you're able to maximize interest on your parked cash.

Bottom line

Your Social Security benefits may be an integral part of your retirement plans. And while the program's COLAs are far from perfect, they offer at least some inflation protection in today's economic environment.

It's important to make sure you're stretching your Social Security benefits as much as possible, especially if they're your main source of retirement income. That means prioritizing essential expenses, avoiding unnecessary spending, and squeezing some cash out of those benefits if you're able to get through the month without using them up entirely.

More from FinanceBuzz: