In general, people who get Social Security know when their payments are due and when the official cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase is. However, there are other times that they should remember. Besides, the cost-of-living increase for Social Security in 2025 will be made public in a few weeks.
The amounts that are expected are around 2.5%, which is less than the 3.2% that recipients got this year, but this could change. A lot of the news coverage has been on the date of the reveal. For the 2025 COLA, there are two other dates that are very important that you should know.
3 dates that Social Security beneficiaries should mark on their calendars
October 10th: Social Security official COLA increase announcement for 2025
The Social Security Administration will make the 2025 COLA public on October 10. At that point, the September 2024 Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) number will be released, which is the last piece of information needed to figure it out.
The government will compare this to the average data from the third quarter of 2023, but the COLA will be different. The data from July and August will be used to make the average.
The COLA isn’t actually added to your checks, but the federal government will add it to your primary insurance amount (PIA). If you turned 62 and claimed Social Security at your full retirement age (FRA), this is how much you would get. Then, if you file a claim at any other time, your benefit will change to figure out your new payment amount in 2025.
You can get a very good idea of your 2025 benefit, though, by adding the COLA rate to your present checks. If the COLA is 2.5% and you make $2,000 a month now, your checks will have $50 extra in them every month in 2025.
Early December 2024: Beneficiaries will get personalized COLA notices from Social Security
Early in December, the Social Security Administration will send each beneficiary a personalised letter with information about how much money they will get in benefits in 2025.
You will be able to get your COLA letter through your Message Centre by the middle of November if you set up a My Social Security account. You can also choose to be notified by email or text message when the notice is ready.
The Social Security Administration also sends out COLA letters all through the month of December. Social Security asks that you wait until January 2025 to let them know if you think your COLA notices are missing. This is because sending these notices to millions of people takes time.
January 8th, 2025: Beneficiaries will receive their first checks, including the 2025 COLA increase
In a technical sense, the Social Security Administration will add the 2025 COLA to your payment in December 2024. You won’t get your first COLA payment until January 2025, though, because Social Security checks are sent the month after the due date. Based on when you were born and the Social Security payout schedule, the exact date will depend on the following:
- Recipients born on the 1st through the 10th of a month will get their benefits on Jan. 8th
- Recipients born on the 11th through the 20th of a month will get their benefits on Jan. 15th
- Recipients born on the 21st through the 31st of a month will get their benefits on Jan. 22nd
Beneficiaries will still get their money on the second, third, or fourth Wednesday of every month, based on when they were born. For people who get Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the increase in these checks will happen even faster.
These benefits are usually sent out on the first of the month, but because of the government holiday on January 1, 2025, these checks will be sent out on December 31, 2024.
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