Starting a new year means a lot of things for everyone in the United States, but for those who collect Social Security payments, such as SSI, there are always important changes.
Among the changes to these benefits is the COLA. Through the COLA, the Social Security Administration makes the checks increase every year in order to combat inflation in the most direct way.
Price increases in recent years have caused retirees and SSI recipients to lose purchasing power. That is why it is so important to be aware of the COLA and everything related to it.
While it may not seem like in some years the increase is huge, it is true that any kind of increase in pensions and SSI is an indispensable help. Best of all, any Social Security check will see this increase, so retirees can congratulate themselves.
DOES THE GLUE AFFECT SSI AND SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS AT THE SAME TIME?
The important thing to know in these cases is that the Social Security check will see an increase at the beginning of next year. Not only that, but SSI benefits may increase by the same percentage.
Mind you, we still don’t know what percentage the 2024 COLA will be, although some experts talk about the increase not being as large as in 2023. The Senior Citizens League says that the Cost of Living Adjustment could be around 3%.
Getting to 8’7% this 2023 seems impossible for most COLA increases, as this increase was record high. Should we eventually find ourselves at 3%, the maximum Social Security payment will reach $4,691 or so.
In the case of SSI, the check could be as high as $941 per month. And since we can cash both checks at the same time we can safely say that we will get two increases outright in the coming months.
WHEN IS THE 2024 TAIL ANNOUNCED?
Next October the Social Security Administration and the United States Government will announce the exact COLA for the 2024 pensioner and SSI increases.
The day we will know this figure will be around October 16. While this is true, we will still have to wait until the first of the 2024 payments to see this increase in monthly income.
Still, it is true that the first of the payments with the COLA applied could come in 2023. This is because SSI would arrive early due to January 1st being a holiday. For that reason, the Administration will send that payment on the immediately preceding business day, which will be September 29, 2023.