For more than 70 million people who receive Social Security benefits in the United States, December marks the end of the current year’s payment cycle. The payments made this month are the last distribution under the benefit structure in effect for 2025.
The cost-of-living adjustment mechanism, known as COLA, which modifies the amounts, will come into effect from January 2026 and has been set at 2.8%, following the more stabilized inflation of 2025, which resulted in that number in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Social Security payments: closing out a year without incident
The distribution of funds follows a schedule based strictly on the beneficiary’s date of birth, focusing on three specific Wednesdays each month. According to this schedule, individuals born between the first and tenth of any month will receive their December allowance on Wednesday the 10th.
For those whose birthday falls between the 11th and 20th, the payment date will be Wednesday the 17th. Beneficiaries whose birthdays fall between the 21st and 31st will receive their funds on Wednesday, December 24th.
This payment schedule applies uniformly to retirement beneficiaries, survivors receiving benefits, and those receiving disability payments under the SSDI program. The Social Security Administration (SSA) does not make distributions outside of this established schedule in most cases, with the notable exception of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments.
Averages and Social Security benefit caps
According to the most recent data from the SSA, the average monthly benefit for a retired worker in December 2025 is $1,959.22. This average, however, masks a considerable range of individual variation. The final amounts each person receives depend largely on their earnings throughout their working life and, crucially, on the age at which they began receiving benefits.
At the upper end of the spectrum, the maximum monthly benefit a retiree can receive in 2025 is set at $5,108. To qualify for this maximum amount, an individual must have earned at least 35 years of income equal to or greater than the Social Security taxable income threshold. Additionally, they must have postponed starting to receive benefits until age 70.
Looking ahead: the COLA 2026 increment
These amounts will change in January. The SSA announced a 2.8% COLA for 2026, which will increase the average check for a retired worker by approximately $56 per month. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will see this increase a little sooner, as their January payment will be moved up to December 31, 2025, due to the New Year’s holiday.
For existing beneficiaries receiving the maximum benefit, this equates to a $113 monthly increase (from $4,018 to $4,131, rounded per SSA rules).