One of the big disadvantages of starting to collect a monthly United States Social Security check is that there is no way to get a better check month after month. Unlike wages for workers, which can increase some months, retirement checks only increase once a year.
In this sense, a worker can ask his or her boss for a raise, but a retiree cannot achieve a higher benefit and cannot ask for it. Once we have Social Security retirement accepted, we cannot access a different check unless the COLA increases within the year.
So knowing when the COLA is and what the COLA amount is can be critical in being able to determine whether we will have more or less Social Security money in the rest of the year. And in May 2024 we will have the same check as in previous months of the year, but it will be larger than in the month of May 2023.
What is the May 2024 Social Security check?
If we take into account the Social Security check for the month of May 2023, in this year 2024 we will get 3.2% more. This means that the maximum checks will be higher, but not only that. We should also keep in mind that any other payment, regardless of the amount, will have an increase.
So we must take this into account to know what will be the money we will get in May of this coming year. The largest check this coming May 2024 from Social Security will be $4,873 per month. This check is the largest in all retirement categories.
In the case of having a Disability payment, the check will not be that amount, but up to $3,822. Still, it is true that to reach such a high figure we must have maximized the check in the years in which we have set up the retirement check.
In short, the May 2024 check will be the same as in the previous months of this year, but higher than in 2023. If you pay attention to the 2023 check and this 2024 check, the difference is 3.2%, so yes, we have a larger Social Security benefit over the year.