Social Security recipients typically receive one payment each month, but some older Americans could receive an additional check in November due to the way the calendar falls in the last two months of the year. 

While the issue isn’t new — the Social Security Administration sets its annual payment schedule well in advance of the year — it could take some seniors by surprise next month if they weren’t aware of the unusual schedule. 

People who could receive an extra check in November are those who receive Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, a program for disabled adults and low-income seniors. Some of those SSI recipients also receive monthly Social Security benefits, the traditional retirement income that is available to people once they turn 62. 

The SSI recipients will get an extra payment next month — and some may receive as many as three payments in November.

Here’s how that will work:

• SSI recipients will get their November payment on Friday, November 1.
• People who claimed Social Security before May 1997 or who get both Social Security and SSI payments will also get their Social Security payment on November 1 (usually people who receive both get their Social Security payment on the third of the month, but because November 3 falls on a Sunday, this payment will also land on November 1).
• SSI recipients will also receive a second payment on Friday, November 29. This reflects their December payment, but because December 1 falls on a Sunday, their payment for the last month of 2024 will land on November 29.

In other words, people who get SSI will receive two payments in November — on November 1 and November 29. If they also receive Social Security, they’ll also get that check on November 1, rather than November 3.

Meanwhile, all other Social Security recipients will receive their payments according to the regular schedule, which provides benefits on the second, third or fourth Wednesday of the month, depending on a recipient’s birth date. 

The November dates for Social Security retirement payments are as follows:

• People born between the 1st to 10th of the month will get their Social Security check on November 13.
• Those born between the 11th to the 20th of the month will get their benefit check on November 20.
• People born between the 21st to 31st of the month will receive their payment on November 27.

When will the Social Security COLA go into effect?

Meanwhile, Social Security recipients will get a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment with their 2025 payments, the agency announced last week. 

The typical beneficiary will see their monthly check increase by about $50, rising to to $1,976 per month. 

That higher payment will kick in with their January benefits:

• People born between the 1st and 10th of their birth month will get their first COLA increase on January 8. 
• Those born between the 11th to 20th of their birth month will receive the COLA bump on January 15.
• Recipients born between the 21st and 31st of their birth month will get the new COLA on January 22.

Meanwhile, people who started collecting Social Security before May 1997 or who receive both Social Security and SSI will get their new Social Security COLA on January 3. 

People receiving SSI will get their new 2025 COLA with their Dec. 31, 2024, payment.