This is the reason why you may have received an extra Social Security payment today, Dec. 31

The Social Security Administration sends out almost 73 million payments each month to its program beneficiaries. These include retired workers, survivors, as well as recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income.

The agency follows a distribution schedule based on recipients' date of birth for retirees and the type of benefits they collect.

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Workers who started receiving their retirement payments before May 1997 are not covered by this schedule based on birthdays. They receive their benefits on the third day of the month, regardless of their date of birth.

Supplemental Security Income payments are usually made on the 1st of each month. Those who receive both SSI and Social Security benefits receive SSI on the 1st of the month and Social Security according to the birth-date schedule.

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The last Social Security payment of the month is usually sent on the fourth Wednesday. However, some recipients may have received one on Tuesday, Dec. 31.

Who will receive a Social Security payment on New Year’s Eve?

Because Jan. 1, 2025 is a federal holiday being New Year’s Day, the Social Security Administration will move the SSI payment forward and issue the January 2025 payments on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.

This advance payment is part of the SSA’s policy to ensure that beneficiaries receive their funds without delay when the regular delivery date falls on a weekend or a federal holiday.

Because the benefit has been advanced, SSI recipients will not receive another payment in January 2025.

The payment sent on Dec. 31 already provides the benefit for the first month of the new year, with the amount already including the 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment or COLA.

All Social Security payments will increase by 2.5% starting in 2025 due to the COLA, a mechanism used to match payments with current inflation and avoid the loss of purchasing power for beneficiaries.

To determine how much money you will receive with the COLA increase, simply add 2.5% to your current benefit. The increase will be given automatically starting with January payments.

For more information, visit the official SSA website.

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