Each new United States Social Security check at the beginning of the year completely changes the maximum monthly payment. This is because in January, the COLA kicks in and retirees who have an approved benefit can enjoy a check with a new amount. In this regard, the maximum check of $4,555 per month will no longer exist.
Instead, the maximum payment in 2024 will be $4,873 per month. So if you had a payment of $4,555 in 2023, you will be able to receive a payment of $4,873 per month starting this January. Still, there are retirees who have already received this payment, but many others have yet to receive it. Therefore, with the last payment of the month, we can say goodbye to this maximum Social Security check forever.
Those who have already received this January payment will have to wait until February to cash a new check. But those who have not yet received the January retirement benefit will be able to collect the Social Security payment this coming week. The payment will arrive on the 24th, but only for this special group. The rest of Americans will not be able to receive the payment.
Which group of retirees will not receive the $4,555 Social Security payment?
Next week, the Social Security Administration will mail the new retirement check to retirees who are in Group 4. This group is the only one that will cash the check, which means that the rest of the retirees will not be able to receive the benefit on that date because they should have already received the payment in previous weeks.
The requirements for payment on January 24, 2024 are as follows: have a post-1997 benefit and have a birthday between the 21st and 31st of any month. Any retiree who does not meet these requirements will not be able to receive this next-day benefit. So if you do not meet the requirements, you will have to look at what other day of the month you should have received the payment.
For the rest of the month, the Administration sent out payments on the 3rd, 10th, and 17th of the month. On each of those days, a different group of retirees cashed a check. The pre-1997 retirees were the ones who received the payment on the 3rd day. On the other hand, post-1997 retirees with birthdays between the 1st and 20th of the month received the benefit on the 10th or 17th.
Keep in mind that the maximum check of $4,555 no longer exists, and that payment is now $4,873 per month because of the COLA. In short, if you had a maximum benefit in 2023, your payment is now higher. But that doesn’t mean the rest of the retirees won’t get a bigger check in 2024. Every single retired worker’s payment increased by 3.2% this year, thanks to the 2024 Social Security COLA.