In just one day millions of Americans can expect a Social Security payment worth $1,657.
This will be the first check with the 5.9% COLA increase in it for 2022.
The increase began at the start of 2022 thanks to the COLA boost that was put into effect for the high rate of inflation in 2021.
This raised the average Social Security recipient’s payment by around $92.
If your birthday falls between the 11th and 20th of the month, you can expect a payment tomorrow, Jan. 19.
The last payment for anyone with a birthday after the 20th will be Wednesday, Jan. 26.
The first check in Feb. will go out on Feb. 9.
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Social Security in 2022
The average increase for married couples collecting benefits is $154 per month.
The average jumps from $2,599 in 2021 to $2,753 in 2022.
Employees who are disabled will see their payments rise from $1,252 to $1,358.
Anyone collecting payments from a Social Security program should have received a letter from the SSA detailing their changes.
The 5.9% increase is the highest rise in COLA in almost 40 years.
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In 2021 the increase was just 1.3%.
The closest a COLA increase has come to 2022 was in 2009 at 5.8%.
Inflation issues impacting the COLA increase for Social Security recipients
Many recipients fear that the rates of inflation will cause the increase received to make no difference in the financial situations.
While the COLA increase is 5.9%, the inflation rate from Dec. 2020 to Dec. 2021 was 7%.
On top of that, Medicare costs are only continuing to increase.
When the rise in cost for Medicare Part B was originally announced, it was claimed that the COLA increase would cover it.
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