Every year the Social Security Administration may introduce different changes, so all beneficiaries in the United States should be alert to know perfectly all the changes surrounding their monthly retirement check. In the case of not knowing well what those changes are we could have financial problems, so it is always a better idea to keep in mind the possibility of changes.
While it is true that the changes announced by Social Security do not always affect all beneficiaries, it is also true that we could encounter changes that do affect everyone equally. Therefore, we would find ourselves with the possibility of getting some improvements, but they are not always better than what Social Security announces when it adds changes to its benefits.
There are two very important changes that have taken effect in this year 2024 that some citizens have not seen. Social Security has changed the check amounts on the one hand. On the other hand, SSA has also changed the money a citizen can get monthly to supplement their retirement check. Both elements are important and should not be forgotten.
Social Security’s COLA 2024
The new Social Security retirement checks since 2024 began have increased all benefits by 3.2%. Thus, the Administration directly addresses price inflation, making United States citizens with a retirement check a little more money every month.
And it is not only retirees can enjoy this increase in benefits. In addition to them, citizens with a Disability payment can also get the new check with the increase included. Likewise, citizens with a Supplemental Security Income payment also enjoy this benefit increase.
The COLA 2025 will also be announced soon, so to that 3.2% increase that has been added in this year 2024 we will have to add a little extra money starting in January next year. Anyway, we still don’t have official data on the 2025 COLA, so we have to wait.
Increasing Social Security Earnings Limits
Social Security benefits are not usually taxable, but if you have some other source of income, you would have to pay taxes in most cases. If this is your situation, things have changed a bit in 2024.
If we are not yet fully retired, citizens can earn $22,320 in 2024 without having to pay taxes or anything like that. We will have no withholding from our check in this case.
However, if we earn more than that figure, we will have to pay $1 for every $2 over $22,320. So we must watch out so that we don’t lose money from our monthly Social Security benefit.
If we are on the Full Retirement Age, we can earn an extra $59,520 per year without having to lose part of our benefit. However, if we earn more than that, the Social Security Administration will subtract $1 for every $3 earned over that amount.
In short, if we only earn a Social Security check we won’t have to worry about anything, but if we have an extra source of income we will have to pay part of our monthly retirement benefit, which will make it worthwhile or not to continue working in the end depending on the total amount.
