Beneficiaries of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program will get two checks in the month of December instead of one, as the result of a quirk in the payment schedule.
Two payments are scheduled to go out to millions of Social Security recipients next month, one on Friday, December 1, and another on Friday, December 29.
SSI recipients would normally get only one payment per month, usually on the first day of the month. But as January 1 is a holiday, the administration will send the check on the nearest business day—in this case, December 29.
This means that SSI beneficiaries will get two checks during the Christmas and New Year holidays, the time of the year when most people spend more money than they normally would. Newsweek contacted the Social Security Administration (SSA) for comment by email on Wednesday.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
What’s more, the second check delivered at the end of December will be higher than the first because it will include the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for 2024. The COLA is calculated every year based on inflation, using the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers from the third quarter of the previous year to the third quarter of the current year.
The COLA for next year will be 3.2 percent higher than in 2023, as decided by the administration earlier this year.
SSI beneficiaries must be at least 65 years old and have little to no income, or be under the age of 65 and have a debilitating physical or mental disability that has lasted for at least one year or is expected to result in the individual’s death.
The SSI payments are not the same as Social Security checks for retirees, and the two payments are made separately. Social Security beneficiaries get paid on the second, third and fourth Wednesday of every month. They will receive one monthly payment in December and will have to wait until January to see the 2024 COLA in their checks.
The federal agency sends two SSI payments in the same month once every quarter, in March, June, September and December. Recipients then do not receive a check in January, April, July and October, as they have already received a sort of advance the month before.
How Much Will SSI Recipients Get?
Individual SSI beneficiaries can get up to a maximum of $914 in the first payment in December, while those living with and caring for someone receiving SSI can receive up to $458.
The second payment in December will be slightly higher than that, with the new maximum set at $943 for individual beneficiaries and $472 for carers of SSI beneficiaries. Married couples on the SSI scheme will get up to $1,371 on December 1 and up to $1,415 on December 29.
SSI recipients can check how much money they will receive next month using the SSA’s calculator on the administration’s website.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.