Run the two-number owner-pay check before SSA's October 14 announcement

Your payroll sheet has two numbers: W-2 salary and distributions. Set both against the projected 2027 wage base now, and keep the plan on a recalculation trigger for the official benefit-increase date.

The cap is the payroll number to plan against

The Social Security Board of Trustees projects the 2027 OASDI wage base, the Social Security payroll-tax base, at $190,200, compared with the 2026 wage base of $184,500, which is higher than the 2025 cap of $176,100. The wage base is the highest amount of employee earnings subject to the 6.2% Social Security portion of FICA, the federal payroll tax, so if the projection holds, $5,700 more of earnings would fall under that tax, producing an extra $353.40 in tax for affected workers.

That is small enough to ignore in a burn-heavy plan, but not small enough to forget when you are reading the bank balance daily. It is the kind of number that does not change the burn, but it does change the payroll sheet. Salary up to the cap is the pay that goes through payroll. Distribution above the cap is the owner pay you take after it. The difference is cash timing and tax treatment, not free money.

Bootstrapped companies live on cash, not on a spreadsheet that looks clean at year-end. A salary number that is too high can pull cash out of the bank before the invoice arrives. A distribution number that is too high can make the owner feel comfortable while the company runs thin. Slower owner pay is a deliberate choice when the balance is thin, not a failure. The two-number check keeps both numbers visible without pretending that profit and cash are the same thing.

Two numbers keep owner pay visible

Run the check this week, while the numbers are still planning numbers. The first number is salary-to-cap. The second is distribution-above-cap. Both should be tested against the projected 2027 wage base, and both should survive a bank-balance read before you commit them to the payroll sheet.

SSA plans to announce the official 2027 COLA, the cost-of-living adjustment, on October 14, 2026, in line with the September CPI release, the inflation measure. TSCL and AARP have placed the 2027 COLA forecast between 3.2% and 3.6%, with multiple trackers centered near 3.5%. A 3.5% 2027 COLA would add about $73 per month to an average retired worker benefit that was near $2,086 per month in mid-2026, beginning with the January 2027 payment.

• Enter the projected 2027 wage base and the 2026 cap into your payroll sheet.
• Set salary-to-cap at the amount you expect to pay as payroll wages, then mark the portion above the 2026 cap as the band that would become newly taxable if the 2027 projection holds.
• Compute the Social Security delta on the extra capped earnings.
• Set distribution-above-cap as planned owner pay minus salary-to-cap, and treat that remainder as owner pay outside the payroll number.
• Calendar the official COLA date as the recalculation trigger.
• Build a net retirement COLA number by applying the forecast range to your own benefit estimate and subtracting the monthly Part B premium you already pay.

The list is short because each item should be testable in a minute. The first three items keep the payroll number visible. The last two keep the owner-pay and benefit numbers from drifting. If you cannot run it in a minute, the plan is too complicated for a bootstrapped company. A plan that needs a second read is a plan that will not be read when the bank balance changes.

The COLA is a cash number, not a headline

For a founder, the average benefit is a sanity check, not your number. Your own benefit estimate may be lower, and your Part B premium may be higher than you expect. The useful number is the net amount that reaches your bank account after the premium is paid. If the net number is small, it is not a reason to raise owner pay; it is a reminder that the benefit number is not the same as the payroll number.

Do not let the benefit increase become a reason to raise owner pay before the cash is there. Treat the increase as a future benefit adjustment, not a current deposit. If your company is thin, keep the owner-pay number at the level the bank balance can carry. Slower growth is a deliberate choice, and slower owner pay can be the same discipline applied to the founder number.

Use the forecast range to set a floor and a ceiling. If the official number lands at the low end, your net retirement number shrinks. If it lands at the high end, you have room to raise owner pay without touching the payroll number.