Social Security Sets a Nov. 18 Deadline for Beneficiaries to Go Paperless and See Their 2027 COLA Notice Online

Each December, a one-page letter from Social Security lands in mailboxes across the country and tells every beneficiary what their check will look like in January. This year, people who want that letter weeks earlier have a firm date to act on. The Social Security Administration says anyone without a personal my Social Security account must create one and enroll in paperless notices by Nov. 18 to see the 2027 cost-of-living notice online.

The notice carries real money news. The agency’s Oct. 14 announcement set a 3.6 percent increase for 2027, which works out to an average of about $75 more a month for retired workers.

The Nov. 18 cutoff and what it unlocks

According to the Social Security Administration, account holders will be able to view their COLA notice online starting in late November. That is up to three weeks before a paper notice would arrive. People who have not enrolled in paperless notices will get theirs by mail in December.

The Nov. 18 date is the agency’s own cutoff for the online version. Anyone not enrolled by then gets the notice on the paper schedule in December.

Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano said the agency will carry out the adjustment for 76 million Americans, “giving them greater financial stability.” That count covers both Social Security beneficiaries and people who receive Supplemental Security Income.

What the 2027 notice will show

The agency says this year’s notice is a simplified one-page letter written in plain, personalized language. It lists exact dates and the dollar amount of the new benefit, along with any deductions taken out of it.

Those deductions matter for most retirees. For people enrolled in Medicare, the Part B premium often comes straight out of the Social Security payment, so the number that lands in the bank is the raised benefit minus the new premium. The agency’s Oct. 14 blog post says beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare can see their 2027 benefit amount in their online Message Center starting in late November, and that details on Medicare changes are posted at Medicare.gov.

The Medicare piece of that letter is still a blank for now. As of late October, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had not announced the 2027 Part B premium. AARP reported that the Medicare trustees project it at $209.50 a month, up $6.60 from this year’s $202.90, with the official figure due later this fall. Whatever CMS settles on is the amount that will be subtracted on the notice, the same squeeze that left some retirees with a smaller check even after the 2026 increase.

For a sense of scale, the agency’s 2027 fact sheet estimates the average retired worker’s monthly benefit at $2,170 after the increase, up from $2,095. An aged couple both receiving benefits would average $3,355, up from $3,238. The individual figure on each notice is what counts, though, since averages hide wide differences.

The size of the raise is not a judgment call by the agency. The Social Security Administration ties the COLA to the rise in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 3.6 percent figure reflects that index, and it takes effect with benefits paid in January 2027.

SSI recipients are on a different clock. The agency says about 7.3 million people receiving SSI will see their higher payments beginning Dec. 31, 2026. Calendar quirks like that one are the same reason some recipients see two payments in one month.

How the Message Center setup works

The steps have not changed much since the agency first moved COLA notices online. In a 2024 explainer, the Social Security Administration laid out the process: create a my Social Security account, sign in and open the Message Center, then use the Preferences link to choose online delivery instead of mail. The preference can be changed at any time.

That same page says account holders can ask for email or text alerts, or both, so a new notice does not sit unread. Online notices arrive as PDF files that can be printed.

The COLA letter is not the only document that moves online. The agency lists benefit verification letters, appointment confirmations, Medicare income-related premium (IRMAA) notices and representative payee reminders among the notices available in the Message Center.

Who still gets paper, and when

Some people cannot fully drop paper. The Social Security Administration says customers who have a representative payee cannot opt out of paper notices. Blind or visually impaired customers who asked for a special notice format can still receive online notices, and people with a Spanish language preference get online notices in both Spanish and English.

For everyone else who does nothing, the letter simply comes in the mail in December, as it always has. Missing the Nov. 18 date does not change the size of the raise. It only changes how soon a household can see the exact figure and plan a January budget around it.

The agency repeated the same instructions in its updated email bulletin on the 2027 increase, which points readers to the my Social Security sign-up page and Medicare.gov.

People who would rather not go online can call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213, and the December paper notice will still arrive on its usual schedule.

For retirees juggling fixed incomes, a few extra weeks of notice can mean knowing in late November, instead of late December, whether the raise covers a higher Medicare premium, a rent increase or a winter heating bill.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Timothy Shields – CC BY 3.0/Wikimedia Commons