Some Americans are getting a second Social Security check today. Here’s why.

Social Security Recipients To Get Extra Check

According to a strange quirk in the Social Security Administration’s system, about 1 in 10 recipients of Social Security will get an extra December payment, with the second payment scheduled to arrive on December 29.

The extra check is part of the agency’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and mainly provides aid to disabled people and older individuals with low incomes.

Ordinarily, SSI recipients receive their monthly payments on the first of each month, with the December benefit paid on December 1 to the 7.5 million people enrolled in the program. But due to New Year’s Day being a holiday, SSI attendees will be getting their January check on the last workday before the New Year, with funds landing in accounts on December 29.

With this extra payment, SSI recipients will also receive a 3.2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the year 2024, which has been integrated into the checks paid out on December 29. This increase is the smallest over three years, reflecting the Federal Reserve’s strategy of increasing interest rates to cool down inflation rates.

According to the Social Security Administration, the COLA will result in the average SSI benefit check increasing to $943 per month in 2024 from $914 in 2023.

Schedule for Social Security Payments in 2024

While the COLA increase for December benefits will take effect in the new year, most recipients will see this payment in January, except for SSI recipients, according to the Social Security Administration.

From 2023, the average retirement benefit check will increase by approximately $60 per month to $1,907 from $1,848, as highlighted by the agency.

Below is the payment schedule for the initial checks in 2024, reflecting the new COLA.

Dec. 29, 2023: The benefits hike for the nation’s 7.5 million SSI recipients will begin on this day. Typically, SSI payments are issued on the first of each month, but because January 1 is a holiday, recipients will get their payments on the Friday before January 1.

Jan. 3, 2024: If you started claiming Social Security before May 1997 or if you get both Social Security and SSI benefits, you’ll get the new COLA in a Dec. 29, 2023 check and your Social Security payment on January 3.

Jan. 10, 2024: If your birthday falls between the 1st to the 10th day of your birth month, this is when you’ll get your first benefit check with the new COLA. For instance, if your birthday is June 1, you’ll get paid on this day.

Jan. 17, 2024: If your birthday falls between the 11th to 20th day of your birth month, you’ll get your higher payment on this day.

Jan. 24, 2024: If your birthday falls between the 21st to 31st of your birth month, your benefit check will reflect the new COLA on this day.