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The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) annual adjustment of benefits to offset inflation kicks in, meaning millions of recipients will see a higher number on their checks in 2024.
Inflation eased during 2023, leading officials to announce an increase of 3.2% – well under last year’s eye-popping 8.7% jump.
Estimated average monthly checks for retired workers will rise from $1,848 to $1,907, but not all recipients will receive their first larger payment simultaneously.
When will I get my first higher payment?
According to the SSA, increased payments to roughly 7.5 million Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will start going out on December 29 since January 1 is a holiday.
The COLA-adjusted Social Security benefits will reach over 66 million recipients in January 2024. However, when you receive that, the first payment will depend on your birthday.
If you were born between the first and 10th of the month, your check will go out on the second Wednesday of January 10.
If you were born between the 11th and the 20th, your payment is on the third Wednesday, January 17.
If you were born between the 21st and the 31st, the U.S. sends your benefits on the fourth Wednesday, January 24.
One exception is for people who received Social Security before May 1997. Their payments will go out on January 3.
Employees with the SSA provide roughly $1.4 trillion in benefits to more than 70 million people each year. According to the SSA, they have added at least eight million additional beneficiaries over the past ten years.
“For more than 85 years, Social Security has provided income protection for retirees, adults, children with disabilities, and families who lose a wage earner,” Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a news release. “Despite our recent history of chronic underfunding, Social Security remains among the most trusted agencies in the Federal Government.”