No, Social Security is not ending or disappearing in 2025. Benefits continue to be paid, with a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025. While the long-term outlook indicates that trust fund reserves could be depleted by 2032–2033, leading to potential reduced payments of roughly 75-80% of promised benefits if Congress does not act, this is not an immediate 2025 cutoff.
The 2025 report of the trustees of the Social Security trust funds underscores the financial precarity of the nation's most popular federal program. The trustees project that Social Security's primary trust fund will be depleted in 2033.
Starting February 25, 2025: SSA began adjusting monthly benefit payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the WEP and GPO. If a beneficiary is due additional benefits as a result of the Act, they will receive a one-time payment, deposited into the bank account SSA has on file.
While Social Security is unlikely to disappear, it may undergo changes. Nevertheless, you can take proactive steps now to prepare for potential changes and protect your future retirement income.
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Information for 2026
The 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to nearly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2026. Increased payments to nearly 7.5 million SSI recipients will begin on December 31, 2025.
We want you to know that during the federal government shutdown, payments to all people who currently receive Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will continue with no change in payment dates. You will still receive your payments on time.
If you are retired and receiving social security benefits, you will get the payment automatically. If you are retired, not receiving benefits, and did not file taxes in 2018 or 2019, you will need to submit your payment info to the IRS. You can do that on their website.
Qualification for the $1,400 stimulus check (the third Economic Impact Payment) in 2021 depended on your 2021 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and filing status, with full amounts for single filers earning up to $75,000 (phasing out at $80,000) and joint filers up to $150,000 (phasing out at $160,000), plus $1,400 per dependent; you needed a valid Social Security Number and had to claim it as the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2021 tax return if you missed the payment, with deadlines typically in April 2025.
Eligibility Criteria for Senior Stimulus Checks
Those who receive Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or veterans' benefits are also considered for stimulus payments, even if they do not file a tax return.
The extra $144 added to Social Security usually comes from the Medicare Part B Giveback benefit, offered by some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans, which pays back some or all your Part B premium, showing up as extra money in your check if it's deducted from your Social Security. To qualify, you need Original Medicare (Parts A & B), pay your own Part B premium, live in a plan's service area, and enroll in a specific Medicare Advantage plan that offers this "rebate," with the amount varying by plan and location.
Yes, Social Security recipients received a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2025, but the bigger news is that they are getting a larger 2.8% COLA for 2026, announced in October 2025, which began with January 2026 payments, increasing average benefits by about $56 per month. The 2025 COLA was a smaller 2.5% increase, while the 2026 adjustment reflects moderating inflation, leading to higher payments starting in the new year.
Bush financed income tax cuts and the Iraq war by plundering money from Social Security.
Congress recently passed the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), signed into law in January 2025, which eliminates the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), ending benefit reductions for public servants (like teachers, police, firefighters) who also earned Social Security, ensuring they get the full benefits they've earned from both covered and non-covered work. While this major bill was enacted in early 2025, Congress also works on other related legislation, like potential bills concerning tax treatment or benefit calculation methods, but the Fairness Act is the most significant recent law.
The IRS is sending out stimulus checks to taxpayers who did not claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax return.
Visit the IRS Get My Payment (GMP) portal at https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment to see if you can expect a 2021 Economic Impact Payment. The GMP portal will provide the date when your payment was or will be sent.
Single filers: You qualify for the full $1,400 if your AGI in 2021 was $75,000 or less. The credit begins to decrease for incomes over $75,000 and is fully phased out at $80,000. Married filing jointly: You qualify for the full $2,800 (for two people) if your combined AGI in 2021 was $150,000 or less.
Nearly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries will see a 2.8 percent COLA beginning in January 2026. Increased payments to nearly 7.5 million people receiving SSI will begin on December 31, 2025. (Note: Some people receive both Social Security benefits and SSI).
Qualification for the $1,400 stimulus check (the third Economic Impact Payment) in 2021 depended on your 2021 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and filing status, with full amounts for single filers earning up to $75,000 (phasing out at $80,000) and joint filers up to $150,000 (phasing out at $160,000), plus $1,400 per dependent; you needed a valid Social Security Number and had to claim it as the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2021 tax return if you missed the payment, with deadlines typically in April 2025.
Social Security benefit change #1: Cost of living (COLA) raises. Beginning January 2025, there's a 2.5% COLA increase for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, which affects about 72.5 million people. Though the exact amount of the Cost-of-living Allowance can vary, there typically is one.
From October 1 to November 12, 2025, the federal government of the United States was shut down as Congress failed to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives advanced a continuing resolution, but Senate Democrats repeatedly blocked it.
Executive Order (EO) 14247 “Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account” transitions federal payments to electronic methods. Starting September 30, 2025, most federal payments that are currently made by paper check—including Social Security benefits and tax refunds—will be made electronically.