Social Security beneficiaries will receive a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025, increasing the average monthly retirement check by approximately $50, according to the Social Security Administration. This adjustment, based on inflation data, is lower than previous years, aiming to help recipients keep up with rising costs, notes the NewsNation article.
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.
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.
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.
To be eligible to receive the maximum $5,108 benefit -- or whatever the maximum benefit is for a given year -- you need to have earned at least the wage base limit in each of the 35 years that the SSA uses to calculate your monthly benefit. In 2025, the wage base limit is $176,100.
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.
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.
Millions of Social Security recipients automatically received COVID-19 stimulus payments through the IRS using SSA and RRB data. Payments included up to $1,200 per individual in round one, $600 in round two, and $1,400 in round three, with extra amounts for dependents.
There has been some misinformation spread online about an alleged "fourth stimulus check" being sent to older Americans or people with disabilities. There will be no fourth stimulus check going out to anyone.
Also beginning in March 2025, the Social Security Administration (SSA) reinstated its authority to withhold up to 100% of an individual's monthly benefit to recover overpayments. In recent years, the SSA limited overpayment recovery to a maximum of 10% of the monthly benefit.
No, Social Security beneficiaries are not automatically getting an extra $200 a month, but there's a proposed bill called the Social Security Emergency Inflation Relief Act in Congress that aims to provide a temporary $200 monthly boost until July 2026 to help with rising costs, though its passage is uncertain. For 2026, the standard Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) is 2.8%, adding about $56 monthly on average, not $200.
The dollar amount increase to checks will vary depending on a person's benefit amount, but the average Social Security Retirement benefit, $2,008.31 in July 2025, will grow by about $56.
Beneficiaries who get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will get two checks in the month of May. The first check, due on May 1, is the benefit for the month of May 2025. A second check is due on May 30, the benefit check for the month of June.
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. (Note: Some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits.)
Stimulus payments
Single taxpayers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $75,000 or below. Taxpayers filing as heads of household with AGIs of $112,500 or below. Married couples filing jointly with AGIs of $150,000 or below.
Yes, a bill to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) has already become law: the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 (H.R. 82), signed by President Biden on January 5, 2025, repeals both WEP and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), eliminating reductions to Social Security benefits for public servants with non-covered pensions. The Act applies to benefits payable after December 2023, with the Social Security Administration currently implementing the changes and processing retroactive payments for affected individuals.
Additional work will increase your retirement benefits. Each year you work will replace a zero or low earnings year in your Social Security benefit calculation, which could help to increase your benefit amount. Social Security bases your retirement benefits on your lifetime earnings.
The maximum Social Security check
Your maximum benefit if you file at full retirement age — between 66 and 67 — is $4,018 per month. Your maximum benefit if you file at age 70 — the age when extra benefits stop accruing — is $5,108 per month.