Social Security ALERT: Must-Do Actions for Retirees Before December 31st – Don’t Miss Out

It is a good idea for Social Security users to consider the new changes the SSA is introducing and how they may impact their life and benefits going forward, especially as the new year draws nearer every day.

Since benefits play such a significant role in the lives of over 70 million people nationwide, anticipating how changes would impact them can help to avoid many issues later on.

Figure out your new Social Security check amount after COLA

Each year, a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is applied to all benefits. This adjustment, which would apply to all Social Security benefits, including retirement benefits, will increase by 2.5 percent in 2025.

Simply take your most recent payment, apply the 2.5%, and add the result to your benefit to calculate our new benefit for 2025 utilizing the COLA. The average retirement benefit will increase by $47 per month if you don’t know how to achieve it.

Make sure you understand the benefits calendar for 2025

SSI benefits will continue to be paid on the first of each month (although the first payment will be made on December 31, 2024, due to the weekend and national holiday rule), and the remaining benefits will continue to be paid according to the same staggered calendar.

The general formula for determining when your payment will be delivered does not change annually.

Benefits will be paid on the second Wednesday of each month to recipients whose birthdays fall on the first through tenth of the month, on the third Wednesday to those born on the eleventh through the twentieth, and on the fourth Wednesday to those born on the twenty-first through the thirty-first.

These benefits are still available despite the change in the National Holiday date.

Verify Your Complete Retirement Age Again

Since most people are between the ages of 66 and 67, make sure you are accurate about your retirement age if you plan to retire in 2025. You are secure if you were born before 1959, but keep in mind that your complete retirement age is 66 and 10 months if you were born in that year.

You still have one year left to earn full benefits if you were born in 1960 or later, as your full retirement age is 67.