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AS the year comes to a close, time is running out for Americans to score their remaining 2024 Social Security payments.
Just three opportunities remain for Social Security beneficiaries to receive their December payments worth up to $4,873.
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Social Security checks are handed out to retirees as well as those with disabilities and families in which a spouse or parent has died.
The payments are made based on a schedule that considers beneficiary birthdays.
For example, Americans with birthdays from the 1st through the 10th of their birth month receive Social Security money on the second Wednesday of each month.
Recipients born on the 11th through the 20th are paid on the third Wednesday of each month.
Read More on Social Security
And finally, those with birthdays from the 21st through the 31st of the birth month get their Social Security payment on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
In December, the second Wednesday falls this week on the 11th.
2025 Social Security Payment Schedule
Social Security payments are handed out on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month. Benefits will be paid out in 2025 on the following dates:
- January 8, 15, and 22
- February 12, 19, and 26
- March 12, 19, and 26
- April 9, 16, and 23
- May 14, 21, and 28
- June 11, 18, and 25
- July 9, 16, and 23
- August 13, 20, and 27
- September 10, 17, and 24
- October 8, 15, and 22
- November 12, 19, and 26
- December 10, 17, and 24
Social Security beneficiaries paid on the third Wednesday will receive their cash on December 18.
The fourth Wednesday in December falls on Christmas Day, so recipients will instead be paid on Tuesday, December 24 due to the holiday.
Social Security payment amounts are calculated based on a recipient’s work history and how much they paid into the program over the years.
Generally, the later a beneficiary retires, the greater their Social Security checks will be each month.
For example, those who retire at 62 this year can receive a maximum monthly check of $2,710.
This amount grows for Americans who delay their retirement to their full retirement age, or FRA, in 2024, with a maximum monthly payment of $3,822.
The FRA is based on the year a Social Security recipient was born:
- 1943–1954: age 66
- 1955–1959: age 66 and a certain number of months, increasing by two months each year:
- 1955: 66 and 2 months
- 1956: 66 and 4 months
- 1957: 66 and 6 months
- 1958: 66 and 8 months
- 1959: 66 and 10 months
- 1960 or later: age 67
Americans who postpone their benefits even further until age 70 can receive a maximum monthly payment of $4,873.
INCREASED SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS
COLA, or the cost-of-living adjustment, is announced every October, determining how much Social Security beneficiaries will receive the following year.
Influenced by inflation rates, the adjustment amount considers the amount of money Americans need to comfortably live in the current economy.
On October 10, the Social Security Administration announced a 2.5% COLA for 2025 – the lowest increase in about four years.
The adjustment increase, however, hovers near the 2.6% COLA average over the last decade and means a slight hike in Social Security payments for over 72.5 million Americans starting next year.
Monthly Social Security retirement benefits will increase on average by $50 to $1,976 beginning in January, up from $1,927 in 2024.
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The U.S. Sun previously spoke to a Social Security expert, who shared how delaying your benefits could earn you $26,000 more annually.
The expert also pointed out two common mistakes that can lose you thousands a month in Social Security.
