While it is true that the announcement of the final COLA figure for Social Security checks in the United States turned out to be a flop because it was not as high as retirees had hoped, its final implementation is something everyone is looking forward to. And that’s because a COLA increase is always an increase and Social Security beneficiaries are eager to start collecting a little extra money to be able to cope with inflation.
If we take into account that the 2024 COLA will be only 3.2% we can calculate that there is a 5% difference from the 2023 increase. And the truth is that the difference is huge, but this is because inflation has stalled a bit, so there is no need to keep increasing the checks as much as in the past year.
Whatever COLA we have, the important thing is to know when we will start cashing the new check with the added increase. And the truth is that this increase may come sooner than retirees think. And that is that a group of Americans will be able to collect early the payment with the 2025 Cost of Living Adjustment added.
This could be good news, but getting the payment earlier means we won’t get it on your day. Ultimately, the number of payments each year is the same and it is not possible to get an extra check in the same amount that we will usually collect. Even so, the first of the Social Security payments with the added COLA is not a retirement payment, but a different one.
WHEN DOES THE FIRST OF THE 2024 SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS WITH THE COLA ARRIVE?
This Social Security payment with the added COLA will go from $914 to $943 maximum. Undoubtedly, the difference is remarkable, especially when you consider that we will get 12 such payments during the year. Still, many Americans feel this increase is insufficient.
The payment we are talking about is the Supplemental Security Income. This check is supposed to arrive on the 1st of January 2024, but an irregularity causes the payment to arrive early.
The Social Security Administration does not send checks on holidays and weekends. And January 1st is a holiday, so it advances the SSI payment for that day to December 29th, which is the immediately preceding business day.
For this reason, Americans with an SSI payment who have Direct Deposit activated will be able to cash the check with COLA 2024 in 2023. On December 29th itself, they will be able to enjoy this benefit with up to $943.
Best of all, in that same month the recipients of this check will get their 2023 SSI payment with the maximum check of $914, so they will have in the same month two checks of the same benefit with different amounts.
WHAT WILL BE THE COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT FOR 2024?
The United States government announced that the 2024 COLA will be 3.2%, a lower increase than in the current year 2023 but which seems sufficient to deal with inflation and the general increase in prices.
In the case of having a Social Security benefit our check will increase by 3.2%. This means that for every $100 of our check our payment will increase by $3.2. In other words, every $1,000 we collect in 2023 will increase to $1,032 as of January of next year.
To find out our exact check we just need to add 3.2% to the check we collect right now in 2023. This is the best way to find out what our Social Security payment is after applying the 2024 COLA.