February Social Security Payments Arrive in Just Two Days

Social Security payments are on the way, and they should arrive to seniors in two days.

Right in time for Valentine’s Day, the next Social Security payment is scheduled for Feb. 14. However, keep in mind, beneficiaries receive their checks generally based on their birth dates.

For this month, everyone whose birthday falls between the first and 10th of a month earns their benefits on February 14. A week later, on February 21, Social Security payments will go out for everyone with a birthday between the 11th and 20th. And those with a birthday between the 21st and 31st of any month get their payments on February 28.

However, if you’ve received Social Security since before May 1997, you should always expect your payments a bit earlier. For this month, they arrived on February 2.

Beneficiaries should generally wait three days before reaching out about any missed payments.

COLA Increase

This year, Social Security payments grew by 3.2 percent courtesy of the cost of living adjustment (COLA). That saw the highest payments go up to $4,873 for the highest earners who retired at age 70. On average, seniors can expect an increase of more than $50 a month.

Generally, you can maximize your payments based on when you retire, how much you paid into Social Security and the number of years you worked.

Still, payments vary greatly across the board, with those who retired at the youngest age possible, 62, earning only $2,710 a month. Those retiring at the full retirement age of 67 get a more average check, at $3,822.

Despite the 2024 COLA, many seniors have expressed disappointment with their higher checks, saying they don’t adequately keep up with inflation as their grocery, housing and gas bills soar.

“Whether the annual COLA is appropriate for a specific retiree to ensure equal purchasing power as the prior year is highly specific to the life situation of the individual retiree, both in terms of expenses and other sources of income,” Jonathan Price, the national retirement practice leader at employee benefits consulting firm Segal, told Newsweek.

But that’s not the only problem the Social Security Administration is up against.

Lawmakers and everyday citizens are becoming increasingly concerned that the Social Security program will become insolvent by 2033 if nothing changes. The Social Security net fund is losing money as too many Americans retire and not enough are currently working to support the program.

Today, roughly $1.4 trillion in payments are sent to more than 70 million people each year. Altogether, more than 8 million people have started receiving benefits over the past decade.