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    • Useful data on the Social Security COLA for 2025
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    Useful data on the Social Security COLA for 2025

    Idris Bevan Posted on

    Everyone is counting down the days until the COLA announcement – ​​but this is just the beginning.

    Kailey Hagen
    The Motley Fool

    In a few weeks, we’ll finally find out what Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be in 2025. Current projections suggest it will be around 2.5%, less than the 3.2% benefit recipients received this year. But that could change a bit.

    Much of the attention has been focused on the announcement date itself. However, there are two other important dates to note in connection with COLA 2025.

    1. October 10: The Social Security Administration will announce the 2025 COLA

    The Social Security Administration will officially announce the 2025 COLA on October 10. That’s when we’ll get the final piece of information we need for the calculation – the September 2024 Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The government will use that to average the July and August data and compare it to the average data for the third quarter of 2023. The difference will be the COLA.

    Technically, the COLA isn’t applied directly to your checks. The government applies it to your primary insurance amount (PIA), which is the benefit you would have been eligible for if you had applied for Social Security benefits when you reached your full retirement age (FRA). Then, if you applied at a different time, your benefit will be adjusted up or down to calculate your new payment amount for 2025.

    However, you can get a pretty good estimate of what you’ll be getting in 2025 by adding the COLA percentage to your current checks. For example, if the COLA is 2.5% and you’re currently getting $2,000 a month, you’d add another 2.5%, or $50 a month, to your checks in 2025.

    December 2, 2024: Beneficiaries will receive personalized COLA notifications

    In early December, the Social Security Administration will send personalized notices to all Social Security recipients detailing how much they will receive in 2025. If you created a My Social Security account by mid-November, you can view your COLA notice through your Message Center. You can also sign up for an email or text message alert so you know when the notice is available.

    The Social Security Administration will also be sending out COLA notices throughout December. However, it takes time to send these notices to millions of beneficiaries, so the Social Security Administration is asking you not to contact them about missing COLA notices until January 2025.

    3. 15.08.2025: The first checks with the COLA for 2025 are sent out

    Technically, the Social Security Administration will apply the 2025 COLA to your December 2024 payment. However, because you don’t receive Social Security checks until the month after the due month, you won’t receive your first payment with the COLA until January 2025.

    The exact date depends on your birthday as follows:

    • Born on the 1st to 10th of a month: January 8, 2025
    • Born on the 11th to 20th of a month: January 15, 2025
    • Born on the 21st to 31st of a month: January 22, 2025

    Beneficiaries will continue to receive payments on either the second, third or fourth Wednesday of each month, depending on their date of birth.

    Those receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will receive these checks even sooner. These benefits are normally paid on the first of the month, but because January 1, 2025, is a federal holiday, these checks will not be mailed until December 31, 2024.

    Once you know how much you’ll receive from Social Security (and possibly SSI) in 2025, you can start planning your budget for next year. If you have questions about how the COLA will affect your checks, you can contact the Social Security Administration, but wait until you get your COLA notice in December, as that could answer many questions.

    The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

    The Motley Fool is a content partner of USA TODAY and provides financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

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    Idris Bevan
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