Social Security checks 2024: When will the first payments arrive?
Do you receive Social Security benefits? Find out when the first payments of 2024 will be sent and how much money you will receive each month.
The year is almost over, which means the Social Security Administration (SSA) is preparing to send out the new increased payments of 2024.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, as well as Social Security checks, which include payments for retired workers, survivors and Social Security Disability Insurance, will increase in 2024 thanks to the cost of living adjustment (COLA).
Each year, the SSA calculates the COLA, based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Workers and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), in order to keep up with inflation and not affect the purchasing power of the beneficiaries.
For the coming year, the COLA will be 3.2%, so SSI and Social Security payments will increase by that percentage. Here are the details on when the first increased checks will be sent and the amount of the different payments.
Social Security benefits: How much money will be sent in 2024?
This year the average payments for all retired workers have been $1,848, according to the SSA. With the COLA increase of 3.2%, they will rise to $1,907 by 2024.
The average payments for retired couples, where both receive benefits, will rise from $2,939 to $3,033, approximately. Other Social Security payments for 2024 would be as follows:
- Surviving spouse with two children: from $3,540 to $3,653
- Single elderly surviving spouse: from $1,718 to $1,773
- Worker with a disability, his or her spouse, and one or more children: from $2,636 to $2,720
- All workers with a disability: from $1,489 to $1,537
For Supplemental Security Income benefits, the standard federal payment will increase from $914 to $943 for individuals and from $1,371 to $1,415 for couples.
To get an estimate of your benefits, just add 3.2% to your current monthly payments.
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Social Security: When will the first 2024 payments be sent?
The COLA increase applies for the first time to January 2024 Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments. Because January 1, 2024 is a holiday, the first increased COLA SSI payment is advanced and sent on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023.
The rest of the first batch of increased Social Security payments will be sent on the following dates:
- Wednesday, Jan. 3: Benefits for those who began receiving their payments before May 1997
- Wednesday, Jan. 10: Payments for beneficiaries with a date of birth from the 1st to the 10th
- Wednesday, Jan. 17: Payments for beneficiaries with dates of birth from the 11th to the 20th
- Wednesday, Jan. 24: Payments for beneficiaries with dates of birth from the 21st to the 31st
You can consult the complete Social Security payment schedule for 2024 here.