Yes, an executive order signed by President Trump on March 25, 2025, titled "Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account" (EO 14247), mandates the end of paper Social Security checks, with the policy taking full effect on September 30, 2025. This initiative transitions all federal payments to electronic methods to increase security and reduce fraud, impacting roughly 456,000 beneficiaries.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the federal government will stop issuing paper checks for most federal payments on September 30, 2025. If you are one of the few people who still receives a federal benefit check, it's time to switch to an electronic payment method.
But the end of an era will come on Sept. 30, 2025. That's when the Social Security Administration (SSA) will stop issuing paper checks for monthly benefit payments. The agency will switch to only electronic payments.
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.
The Trump administration is halting the use of paper checks after Sept. 30 for most federal payments. These include benefits for Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance, veterans' benefits and tax refunds.
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.
Yes, a bill to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) was passed by Congress and signed into law as the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, becoming effective for benefits payable after December 2023. This landmark bipartisan legislation ended decades of reduced Social Security benefits for many former public servants, like teachers and law enforcement, who also earned pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security.
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.
Social Security Needs Shoring Up But Will Not Go “Bankrupt”
The trustees project that the DI trust fund reserves will last through the 75-year, long-range projection window. Because DI costs and income are in close balance, even small changes can significantly alter the DI trust fund's projected reserve depletion date.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) created a new tax deduction for seniors 65+ starting with the 2025 tax year, offering up to $6,000 for single filers and $12,000 for married couples.
See full 2025 payment schedule. SSI beneficiaries got two checks in the calendar month of August – one of which is the September payment – and will again in October and December, too. That's because the first date of the following month lands on a weekend or holiday.
If the individual tax cuts expire, taxpayers in all income groups would face higher and more complicated taxes. Machinery and equipment expensing is a key provision that, if allowed to expire, would especially harm capital-intensive industries like manufacturing.
The era of the paper Social Security check is officially drawing to a close. As of September 30, 2025, the U.S. government has mandated that all federal benefits payments transition exclusively to electronic payments. This means that after this date, you will no longer receive a physical check in the mail.
Yes, the IRS is phasing out paper tax refund checks for individuals starting September 30, 2025, shifting to electronic payments (Direct Deposit, debit cards) to boost security, speed up refunds, and cut costs, as mandated by an Executive Order to modernize federal payments, though exceptions for vulnerable populations may exist. Taxpayers who still get paper checks need to set up direct deposit or another electronic method to receive refunds faster and avoid mail-related fraud.
Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA):
For the January to March 2025 period, there won't be an increase, as the CPI showed a small dip over the last three months. But don't worry—over the past year, benefits have still grown by 2.0%, helping seniors keep pace with rising living costs.
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.
In November 2025, the full retirement age (FRA) — the age at which individuals qualify to receive 100% of their Social Security benefits — increased to 66 years and 10 months for those born in 1959. FRA gradually rises month by month, so in November 2025, those born in January 1959 reached their FRA.
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.
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.
Retirement benefits to go up about $56 per month
The 2.8% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2026 will increase retirement benefits by about $56 per month on average, the Social Security Administration said in October. The increase is higher than the 2.5% benefit boost beneficiaries saw in 2025.
The major Social Security change in 2025 is the full repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) by the Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, eliminating benefit reductions for public workers with non-covered pensions, with payments and retroactive relief beginning in 2024/2025 for millions of affected retirees. This means full Social Security benefits are restored, with retroactive lump-sum payments and increased monthly amounts coming throughout 2025 for those previously penalized.
The Act repealed two federal laws—the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision—which can reduce Social Security benefits when someone receives a pension for work on which they did not pay Social Security taxes.
For 2025, major Medicare changes for seniors include a new $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket Part D prescription drug costs, closing the coverage gap, and introducing monthly payment options for Part D, alongside expected increases in standard Part A & B premiums/deductibles and new Part D price negotiations for popular drugs, requiring beneficiaries to review plans carefully.