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Social Security COLA Months

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When a certification takes effect between October and December, the next COLA has been announced but isn't paid until January. Part of the year's Social Security and SSI is counted at the current amount and part at the post-COLA amount. How many months fall on each side depends on the pay date and the effective date of certification.

Working a specific applicant? The Benefits Calculator does the calculation: add a Social Security or SSI source, enter the current monthly amount, and check Split the year at the COLA. It finds the pay date, counts the months, and prints the worksheet.

Open the Benefits Calculator

Find the pay date

Use the applicant's award letter or SSA records for when Social Security began and whether they also receive SSI. SSI has its own pay date, so an applicant with both has two.

Compare the pay date to the effective date of certification

Months at the post-COLA amount, by the month the certification takes effect.

An effective date that falls on the pay date counts as after it, since the benefit has been paid that day.

Why the count works

  • The certification period covers 12 monthly payments.
  • Social Security is paid a month behind: the payment in January is the December benefit. The COLA takes effect with the December benefit, so every payment from January on is at the post-COLA amount.
  • SSI is paid on the 1st for that same month, and the COLA starts with the January payment. Because January 1 is a holiday, that payment is issued in late December, but it still counts as January's payment at the post-COLA amount.
  • If the effective date is before the pay date, that month's payment is still to come and is the first of the 12. On or after the pay date, it has already been received, so the 12 start with the next month. SSI for the month is always paid by the effective date.
  • So an October certification counts October (if not yet paid), November and December at the current amount, and the rest at the post-COLA amount. For SSI it counts November and December at the current amount.
Annual Social Security or SSI = (current monthly amount × months at current amount) + (post-COLA monthly amount × months at post-COLA amount)
Post-COLA monthly amount = current monthly amount × (1 + COLA %), or the amount on the applicant's COLA notice

Use the gross Social Security benefit, before the Medicare premium is deducted. Work Social Security and SSI separately, each with its own pay date and amounts.

Example

Notes

  • Federal benefits that receive a COLA increase:
    • Social Security and SSI
    • Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) benefits
    • VA benefits
    • OPM pension benefits. The increase depends on whether the annuity is under FERS or CSRS; see the CSRS/FERS Handbook.
    The pay dates and month counts on this page are for Social Security and SSI. For RRB, VA and OPM benefits, use the amount on the applicant's COLA notice.
  • Applicants who began receiving Social Security before May 1997 are paid on the 3rd regardless of birth date.
  • If the 3rd or a Wednesday pay date falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the payment is issued on the preceding business day.
  • For applicants who also receive SSI, the month's Social Security benefit counts as already received on any effective date.
  • SSI is the federal benefit rate less countable income, plus any state supplement, so applying the COLA percentage to the current SSI payment is only an estimate. Use the amount on the SSI COLA notice when it's available.
  • SSA mails COLA notices in December, and they are also in the applicant's my Social Security account. Once the notice is available, use its amount instead of an estimate.
  • COLA percentages come from the COLA Increase Table.

For quick reference only; confirm against the applicant's benefit documentation.