Mark your calendars: 3 2025 Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) dates to know

We’re just weeks away from finally finding out what the 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be. Current projections put it at around 2.5%, less than the 3.2% recipients received this year. But that could still change a bit.

Much of the focus has been on the date of the announcement itself. But there are two other key dates to note related to the 2025 COLA.

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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. This is when we’ll get the last bit of information we need to calculate it — the September 2024 Consumer Price Index for Urban Earners and Service Workers (CPI-). W) figure. The government will average the data from July and August and compare it to the average data from the third quarter of 2023. The difference will be the COLA.

Technically, COLA does not apply directly to your checks. The government applies it to your Primary Insurance Sum (PIA). This is the benefit you would qualify for if you applied for Social Security at full retirement age (FRA). Then, if you’ve ever applied, it adjusts your benefit up or down to calculate your new payment amount for 2025.

However, you can get a pretty good approximation of your 2025 benefit by adding the COLA percentage to your current paychecks. For example, if the COLA comes in at 2.5% and you’re currently making $2,000 a month, you’d add another 2.5%, or $50 a month, to your checks in 2025.

2. December 2024: Beneficiaries receive personalized COLA notifications

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

The Social Security Administration will also send COLA notices throughout December. However, getting these notices to millions of beneficiaries takes time, so the Social Security Administration asks that you not contact it about missing COLA notices until January 2025.

3. 15.08.22 2025: The first checks with COLA 2025 included have been issued

Technically, the Social Security Administration will apply the 2025 COLA to your December 2024 payment. But since you receive Social Security checks the month after they’re due, you won’t get your first COLA payment until January 2025.

The exact date depends on the day of the month you were born as follows:

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

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

Those receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will see an increase in those checks even sooner. These benefits are usually paid on the first of the month, but since January 1, 2025 is a federal holiday, these checks will be issued on December 31, 2024.

Once you know how much you’ll get 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 consider waiting until you get your COLA notice in December, as it may answer a lot of questions.