December 2024 Social Security Payments: Schedule, Eligibility, and COLA Adjustments Explained

Manoj Nair December 2, 2024

56 2 minutes read

Social Security Payment Dates For December and Benefit Increases for 2025

There is good news for retirees, who started receiving their social benefits before May 1997 since the dole out for December 2024 will commence on December 3.

The actual dates of the disbursement will depend upon the beneficiaries’ date of birth. The dates on which the benefits will be released are December 11, 18, or 24.

Beneficiaries are instructed to update their information with the SSA set up direct deposit and also familiarize with the payment schedule.

Social Security benefits are a crucial lifeline of millions of underprivileged American citizens. These dole-outs are lifesavers for millions of Americans who utilize it to pay for their day to day necessities. The first tranche of Social Security payments for the month of December will be released on December 3, 2024. However, it must be noted that only a particular subset of retirees will get their cheques on this day.

Who Will Receive Payments on December 3?

The category who will receive the first Social Security payment in December includes those beneficiaries who started receiving Social Security payments before May 1997.

Hence there are two criterion which must be fulfilled-

The beneficiaries started receiving Social Security benefits before May 1997.
Banking and other details must be accurately updated in the Social Security system.

On December 3, beneficiaries who fulfil these requirements will get their checks.

The payment schedule will, however, follow a separate set of dates for those who do not fit into this category.

As already mentioned a major section of the beneficiaries will receive the benefits on December 11, 18, and 24, 2024 depending on his or her birthdates.

The beneficiaries’ payments will see their benefits determined on the basis of a 2.5% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).

COLA is a measure to ensure that the most vulnerable sections are insulated against the rising costs of living according to rates of inflation.