The Social Security Administration finally announced on October 10th the new cost of living adjustment (COLA) that will make Social Security checks bigger starting in January 2025. People had been waiting for months.
The latest news says that people who get benefits from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI) programs will get a 2.5% COLA raise.
This is in line with what the Senior Citizens League and other financial experts have been saying recently.
You should know that this yearly rise is important for more than 70 million beneficiaries in the US because it helps them pay their bills and keep up with inflation.
Social Security checks will increase by 2.5% starting in January 2025
Even though the 2.5% rise is less than what was expected compared to previous years, it will still help people who get benefits every month.
Also, a smaller cost of living adjustment (COLA) increase is not all bad because it means that inflation has been going down over the last few months.
This means that the adjustment does not need to be so high because COLAs are linked to inflation.
The rise in benefits next year will be small because inflation has slowed down a lot in 2024. The problem is that some people who get Social Security might not be able to keep the full 2.5% COLA.
Many beneficiaries think that the raise they will get next year will not be enough to stop inflation from going up, even though it will be.
That is because the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which is used to figure them out, does not always accurately represent the costs that retirees have. To understand why, just carefully read the name of the book.
That is why it is good to have more than just Social Security. If you retired too soon and did not have time to save, you might want to look into the gig economy or find part-time work that you love.
If your 2025 Social Security check does not go up as planned, making an extra few hundred dollars a month could give you some financial breathing room and ease your stress.
How much money will beneficiaries receive with Social Security checks in 2025?
Retirees, survivors, disabled people, and people who get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) get different amounts of money each month.
This is because each person’s situation is different and depends on things like their full retirement age (FRA), work history, Social Security contributions, and type of disability, especially for those who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
Now that the cost of living has gone up by 2.5%, here are all the amounts that retirees will get next year for each program:
| Retirement benefits | Social Security checks | 2.5% COLA increase | Extra income |
| On average | $1,900 | $1,948 | $48 |
| Age 62 | $2,710 | $2,778 | $68 |
| Age 67 | $3,822 | $3,918 | $96 |
| Age 70 | $4,873 | $4,995 | $122 |
Here you can see that the seniors who chose to wait to get their benefits until they turned 70 will get the biggest raise next year. People who are retired and can get the maximum Social Security benefit will get an extra $4,995 thanks to the 2.5% COLA raise.
It is possible to get more than one Social Security check if you retired before you turned 67 years old or before the full retirement age.
To be clear, if your Social Security checks do not come on the due date, you should wait at least three mailing days before calling SSA customer service.
When will retirees receive the new Social Security checks in 2025?
For people who retired before May 1997, their Social Security checks will arrive on January 3, 2025, according to the payment plan for 2025.
After this payment is made, the SSA will send three more payments on the second, third, and fourth Wednesdays of each month, as shown below:
On January 8th (Second Wednesday), retirees will get their increased Social Security checks if they were born between the 1st and the 10th
On January 15th (Third Wednesday), retirees will get their increased Social Security checks if they were born between the 11th and the 20th
On January 22nd (Fourth Wednesday), retirees will get their increased Social Security checks if they were born between the 21st and the 31st
Also see:-New law that could change Social Security checks to retirees – Would be a significant increase
