Q: Will we be getting a cost-of-living adjustment to our Social Security benefits for 2017?

A: Yes, but don't expect much. Social Security benefits will increase 0.3 percent in 2017, which raises the average monthly benefit for all retired workers by only $5, from $1,355 to $1,360. The maximum Social Security benefit for a worker retiring at full retirement age (age 66 for people born from 1943 to 1954) will be a bit more generous, rising from $2,639 per month to $2,687 per month.

The cost-of-living adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2014 through the third quarter of 2016. There was no COLA for Social Security benefits in 2016, and the inflation adjustments for the two years before that were small β€” 1.7 percent in 2015 and 1.5 percent in 2014.

If you elected to take Social Security benefits before reaching full retirement age and you're still working, you will be able to earn a bit more in 2017 before your benefits are affected; the earnings limit rises from $15,720 in 2016 to $16,920 in 2017. If you earn more than that, one dollar in benefits will be withheld for every $2 in earnings above the limit.

If you reach full retirement age in 2017, you can earn up to $44,880 (up from $41,880 in 2016) before your benefits are affected. One dollar in benefits will be withheld for every $3 in earnings above that amount, until the month you reach full retirement age.

After you reach full retirement age, you can earn any amount without affecting your Social Security benefits.

For workers who are still paying into the Social Security system, the maximum earnings subject to Social Security taxes will rise from $118,500 in 2016 to $127,200 in 2017 (there will continue to be no limit on the amount of income subject to Medicare taxes).

β€œIt was surprising that the amount of income subject to the Social Security tax went up by 7.3 percent,” says Tim Steffen, director of financial planning for Robert W. Baird & Co.

Paying the 6.2-percent Social Security tax on the extra $8,700 in income could result in an extra tax bill of $539.

Kimberly Lankford is a contributing editor to Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com. And for more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com.