It May Concern

Your COLA notice, explained

Updated · By It May Concern · How we check figures

Every year SSA sends each person a notice with their new benefit amount. It’s the official version of what this site estimates, and it’s easy to misread. Here’s when it comes and how to read it.

At a glance

  • Online: last year, notices appeared in the Message Center of my Social Security accounts in late November
  • By mail: last year, paper notices went out in early December (SSA)
  • What it shows: your new amount before deductions, each deduction, and what you’ll actually receive
  • What to do: usually nothing. Keep it for taxes and any benefit applications that ask for proof of income.

Reading the notice, line by line

The layout changes from year to year, but the notice for someone on Social Security usually covers the same pieces, in this order:

  1. Your new benefit amount before deductions. Your old amount plus the COLA, rounded down to the whole dollar. This is the figure most other agencies ask for as “your Social Security income”.
  2. Medicare deductions. The Part B premium, and if you have them, a Part D income-related amount or a drug or Medicare Advantage plan premium you asked to have taken from your check.
  3. Tax withholding, if you asked SSA to withhold federal income tax.
  4. The amount you will receive. What actually lands in your account each month, starting in January.

If you get SSI, the notice explains your new SSI amount and the income SSA counted to work it out.

The most common mix-up

People compare the new before-deductions amount with last year’s deposit and think their raise was huge, or compare the new deposit with the old before-deductions amount and think they got a cut. Compare like with like: before-deductions with before-deductions, deposit with deposit. The calculator shows both side by side.

How to get it online, sooner

  1. Sign in to, or create, a my Social Security account at ssa.gov. SSA uses Login.gov or ID.me to verify who you are.
  2. Open the Message Center. The COLA notice appears there as a document you can view, save or print.
  3. SSA lets you stop paper copies of some notices, including the COLA notice, in your account’s notice preferences.

SSA never asks for your password, and never asks you to pay to get your notice. Anyone offering to “unlock” or “speed up” your COLA for a fee is running a scam.

If something looks wrong

  • Your deposit is lower than you expected. Check the Medicare lines first. A new or higher Part D or Advantage plan premium, or an income-related amount, is the usual reason.
  • You got a letter about an income-related premium and your income has dropped. You may be able to appeal; see IRMAA.
  • The amount doesn’t match your records. Call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 or visit a local office. We can’t see or change anyone’s record.

Want a preview now?

Enter your current amount in the calculator to see what your notice will likely say.

Figures last checked against official sources: