Social Security beneficiaries have some changes coming in December and January, due to quirks of the calendar and a payment hike.

Social Security benefits and SSI payments will increase in 2025, helping tens of millions of people keep up with expenses even as inflation has started to cool.'

With a little more than a month before the 2025 COLA kicks in, here's what you should know about the upcoming adjustment.

Social Security payments receive annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to protect the purchasing power of benefits from inflation. Americans have ranked inflation as their most pressing financial concern for three consecutive years,

A 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment increase will mean an extra $50 a month for most Social Security and SSI recipients.

Social Security benefits will increase by 2.5% in 2025, according to the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The average monthly Social Security benefit is set to rise from $1,927 to $1,976 once 2025’s COLA kicks in.

Arguably, the biggest change coming to Social Security in 2025 is the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. To be sure, inflation has cooled off considerably, and as a result, the COLA that goes into effect for 2025 isn't nearly as large of an increase as those of the past few years.