The 2025 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will update beneficiaries’ benefits. It is expected to be approximately 2.5%, down from 3.2% in 2024. There may be minor modifications before the official number is issued.
While the focus is frequently on the announcement, there are three important dates related to the 2025 COLA.
October 10, 2024: Official Announcement of the 2025 COLA
The SSA will release the 2025 COLA on October 10, 2024. The September 2024 Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers will be the last meaningful statistic.
This result will be averaged with July and August CPI-W data to compare with the 2023 third-quarter average. Difference will decide official COLA.
COLA % is essential, although it does not affect Social Security check amounts. Instead, the adjustment is made to the primary insurance amount (PIA), which is the full retirement age benefit. If someone claims Social Security before or after their FRA, the PIA will be used to adjust their ultimate payment.
Even before the announcement, people can estimate how the COLA will influence their benefits. The expected COLA percentage can be applied to their present benefit amount to estimate the increase.
If the final COLA is 2.5% and someone earns $2,000 per month, they can expect an additional $50 per month in 2025, bringing their total monthly payout to $2,050.
December 2024: Personalized COLA Notices
By early December 2024, the SSA will send individualized COLA notices. These mailings will tell beneficiaries their 2025 payout.
If you joined up for “my Social Security” by mid-November, you can access this notice online through the Message Center. To receive COLA updates, people can choose for email or text notifications.
Due to the volume of recipients, the SSA may send these notices in December but not all at once. For paper mail notification recipients, the SSA recommends waiting until January 2025 to contact them about missing information.
January 2025: First Payments Reflecting the 2025 COLA
The COLA adjustment will be made to payments in December 2024, but beneficiaries will not notice until January 2025. Payment dates depend on the recipient’s birthday.
-Individuals born between the 1st and 10th of the month will receive their payments on January 8, 2025.
-Those born between the 11th and 20th of the month can expect their payment on January 15, 2025.
– Those with birthdays from the 21st to the 31st will see their payments arrive on January 22, 2025.
Checks will be sent out on the second, third, and fourth Wednesdays of each month, depending on the recipient’s birthday, and payments will be made at different times throughout the year.
In addition, people who get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will get their raises even faster. People who get SSI usually get their money on the first of every month. But because January 1, 2025, is a government holiday, people who get SSI will get their extra money on December 31, 2024.
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