For people who get Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Social Security Administration sends them five checks every month.
This gives them enough money to pay for things like housing, food, medical care, transportation, and fun.
We wanted to give you all the confirmed December payment dates because these dates are very important for more than 72 million people in the United States.
Also, remember that you should wait at least three days before calling customer service if your Social Security checks do not arrive on the due date.
5 Social Security checks will be paid in December 2024
The Social Security Administration had to make a monthly payment schedule so that all of the more than 72 million people who get money from Social Security would know when they would be paid for each insurance or financial program.
Please look at this page for the dates coming up this month, or look at the official payment schedule for more information.
- On December 3rd: For those receiving benefits before May 1997 who were retired, survivors, or disabled
- On December 11th: For disabled people, retirees, and survivors who collected benefits after May 1997 and who additionally were born between the 1st and the 10th
- On December 18th: For disabled people, retirees, and survivors who collected benefits after May 1997 and who additionally were born between the 11th and the 20th
- On December 24th: For disabled people, retirees, and survivors who collected benefits after May 1997 and who additionally were born between the 21st and the 31st
- On December 31st: For SSI beneficiaries who will get their January benefits in advance.
SSI recipients will be the first Americans to get their Social Security checks raised in 2025. These checks will include the new 2.5% cost of living adjustment (COLA). Because January 1st is a holiday, some beneficiaries will get their benefits on December 31st.
All other beneficiaries will start getting their enhanced checks on January 3rd.
Also, remember that if your benefits do not arrive on the due date, you should wait at least three mailing days before calling customer service at the Social Security Administration or logging into your My Social Security account to check on your payment.
Why do some Americans decide to retire early in the US?
A new report from the Transamerica Centre for Retirement Studies says that the average American retires a lot faster than planned and often not on their own terms.
A research group talked to almost 60% of retirees who said they quit their jobs earlier than planned, even though the normal age to retire in the US is 62.
Almost half of them said it was because of their health, like having physical limitations or disabilities. People quit their jobs before they retired for a number of reasons, such as losing their jobs or having their employers change how they do things.
Millions of retirees may file for Social Security before they reach their full retirement age (FRA), which is the age at which they can get all of their benefits. This could be because they retired earlier than planned.
People who work in retirement often tell Americans to put off applying for Social Security as long as they can because waiting can save them money.
Employees do not have to wait until they reach full retirement age, which is either 66 or 67 years old depending on their birth year. They can apply for the retirement benefit as early as age 62, but their monthly cheque will be 30% less.
Still, the average age at which Americans apply for Social Security is 63, according to a Transamerica poll of almost 2,400 retired people. This means that a lot of older people are promising to live on lower monthly wages for the rest of their retirement.
If you wait until you are 70, which is the oldest age you can start getting benefits, your monthly Social Security income goes up by more than 30%.
Transamerica found that even though there is an incentive to wait until age 70 to start getting benefits, only 4% of retirees do so.
