Millions of Americans rely on Social Security retirement and Disability Insurance benefits. Although these monthly benefits have different rules to qualify, they share paydays as long as they meet payday eligibility criteria. Checks are much higher for retirees than for people on SSDI. However, it will depend on the number of years you worked for, your earnings, and the age you applied for benefits.
All Social Security recipients who qualify will get a payment on January 15, 2025. It could either be a direct deposit or a check. Anyway, the Agency recommends applying for a direct deposit since they are faster and they will be safer than a paper check. Paper checks could either be lost or stolen, thus, they are more convenient.
Who qualifies for Social Security Checks on January 15, 2025?
There are several rules for receiving the January 15 payment from the Administration. In the first place, you must have filed and gotten approval from SSA. Then, your birthday must fall from the 11th through the 20th.
It does not really matter the year and month, as long as you got approval. What is more, this will not be your payday if you received benefits before May 1997. There is another group of recipients who are not eligible either.
All SSI recipients who are also collecting Social Security simultaneously cannot qualify for the January 15 payment. It’s all good if you were born from the 21st to the 31st. The only bad thing is the fact that you will have to wait for one more week till January 22 to get your monthly payment in retirement or if you are on SSDI.
Here are the average amounts for Social Security on Jan. 15
On average, a retiree can get about $1,976 in January 2025. Due to the 2025 COLA increase, retirement benefits have increased by 49 dollars on average. Bear in mind that the previous average Social Security checks were $1,927.
SSDI recipients can get about $1,580 in January. Thus, retirees get about $396 more on average than SSDI recipients. For your information, retirees’ maximum payments can be up to $5,108 in 2025.
However, the largest Social Security Disability Insurance payment can be up to $4,018. Anyway, these large Social Security payments are not for many, since only few recipients can be such a high-earners to qualify.
What are the tax implications for Social Security benefits, if any?
Single Filers
- $25,000 – $34,000 combined income: Up to 50% of your benefits may be taxable.
- Above $34,000 combined income: Up to 85% of your benefits may be taxable.
- Below $25,000 combined income: Generally, your benefits are not taxed.
Married Filing Jointly
- $32,000 – $44,000 combined income: Up to 50% of your benefits may be taxable.
- Above $44,000 combined income: Up to 85% of your benefits may be taxable.
- Below $32,000 combined income: Generally, your benefits are not taxed.
Married Filing Separately
Filing separately can lead to a more complex calculation; often, Social Security benefits may be taxable at higher rates if you lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year.