If you are a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipient, you may have noticed that you didn’t receive a payment in November 2025. Don’t worry, this isn’t a mistake or a suspension. The November payment was simply deposited early, on Friday, October 31, 2025.
This is perfectly normal and is in accordance with Social Security Administration (SSA) rules: when the first day of the month falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the SSI payment is moved to the last business day of the previous month.
Good news for December: This month, you’ll receive two SSI payments
The first will arrive promptly on Monday, December 1, 2025, and is your regular December payment with the maximum 2025 federal amount. The second payment will be a year-end treat: you’ll receive it on Wednesday, December 31, 2025.
This deposit is actually your January 2026 payment, which is being sent early because New Year’s is a holiday. And the best part about this second payment is that it will already include the 2.8% cost-of-living increase (COLA) for 2026, so you’ll see a higher deposit in your account.
Because you’ll receive your January 2026 payment in December, you won’t see a new SSI deposit during January. It’s important to plan your finances accordingly so that the advance payment will last you through the first few weeks of the new year.
Payments will return to their regular schedule of the first of each month (or the preceding business day) in February 2026, and from then on, all payments will permanently include the 2.8% increase.
Knowing the new SSI amounts for 2026
It’s helpful to know the maximum federal amounts that the SSI program can provide. These amounts apply if you have no other countable income. For 2025, the established figures are as follows: if you are an individual, you receive $967 per month; if you are a couple where both qualify for the benefit, the amount is $1,450 per month; and if you are an essential person (a caregiver who lives with the beneficiary), the payment is $484 per month.
The SSA has already announced the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2026, which is 2.8%. This means that payments will increase slightly next year. The new maximum federal amounts for SSI in 2026 will be: for an individual, $994 per month (an increase of $27); for an eligible couple, $1,491 per month (an increase of $41); and for an essential person, approximately $498 per month.
Remember that you’ll first see this increase in that special payment on December 31, 2025. For SSI beneficiaries, the COLA comes a little earlier than for Social Security retirement beneficiaries. Keep in mind that the final amount you receive may be lower if you report other income, but there’s also an added benefit: some states add a state supplement to the base payment, so check the rules in your state.
