SSI beneficiaries to receive first 2024 COLA adjusted payment on 29 December?
Social Security payments will get a 3.2% boost next year thanks to the 2024 COLA. Here are the first payments the SSA will send reflecting the increase.
In 2024, more than 71 million Americans will see a 3.2% increase in their Social Security benefits, which include payments for retired workers, survivors and disability insurance (SSDI), as well as such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments.
This increase is thanks to the cost of living adjustment (COLA), which is calculated each year based on inflation so as not to affect the purchasing power of workers.
Who will be the first beneficiaries to see the 2024 COLA reflected in their payments?
Although the COLA was announced in mid-October, beneficiaries have had to wait until it takes effect to see the increase reflected.
Throughout the month of December, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been mailing COLA notices to retirement, survivor and disability beneficiaries, SSI recipients, and representative payees, which show the new amount beneficiaries will receive in 2024.
The COLA goes into effect at the start of the new year and is applied for the first time on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments corresponding to January 2024. Therefore, the first increased Social Security payments will be sent on the following dates:
- Friday, December 29th, 2023: Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payment. Although SSI payments are generally sent on the first day of each month, the January payment is brought forward because the first day of 2024 is a holiday and falls on Monday.
- Wednesday, January 3rd: Benefits for those who began receiving their payments before May 1997
- Wednesday January 10th: Payments for beneficiaries with a date of birth between the 1st and the 10th
- Wednesday January 17th: Payments for beneficiaries with dates of birth between the 11th and the 20th
- Wednesday January 24th: Payments for beneficiaries with dates of birth between the 21st and 31st
Here are all the payment dates for Insurance benefits in 2024: Social Security: What is the final payment schedule for 2024
How is COLA calculated?
The COLA is linked to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Workers and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
The calculation takes into account the CPI-W data from the third quarter of the previous year and compares them with those from the third quarter of the current year, that is, the data from July, August and September of both years are compared.
If there has been an annual increase in CPI-W the Social Security Administration (SSA) increases Social Security payments by that percentage.