Wednesday, Dec. 16 Brings the Last Social Security Payment at 2026 Levels for Recipients Born on the 11th Through the 20th

Six weeks from now, one of the last Social Security deposits of 2026 will land in bank accounts across the country. On Wednesday, Dec. 16, beneficiaries born on the 11th through the 20th of any month get their December payment, and it will be the final one paid at this year’s benefit level for that group.

The 3.6% raise for 2027 does not show up for them until the next payment, on Wednesday, Jan. 20. That leaves the Dec. 16 deposit carrying the household through Christmas and New Year’s at the old amount.

The Dec. 16 date and who it covers

The Social Security Administration pays most retirement, survivor and disability benefits on one of three Wednesdays, based on the birth date of the person whose work record the benefit comes from. Birthdays on the 1st through the 10th are paid on the second Wednesday, the 11th through the 20th on the third Wednesday, and the 21st through the 31st on the fourth.

The agency’s 2026 payment schedule lists the December dates as Dec. 9, Dec. 16 and Dec. 23. Dec. 16 is the third Wednesday, so it belongs to the middle birthday group. No holiday falls near it, so the deposit is not moved.

The Wednesday schedule applies to people who started benefits in May 1997 or later. Beneficiaries who started earlier, and people who receive both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, are paid on the 3rd of the month instead, which puts their December payment on Thursday, Dec. 3 under the same schedule. SSI by itself is paid on Dec. 1.

For a survivor or a spouse collecting on someone else’s record, the schedule follows the birth date of the worker whose record pays the benefit, not the recipient’s own birthday.

Why the raise waits until Jan. 20

Social Security pays a month behind. The money that arrives in December is the benefit for November. The Office of the Chief Actuary’s COLA page says the 3.6% increase is effective for December 2026 benefits, which are paid in January 2027. That is why the Dec. 16 deposit stays at the 2026 level.

The first raised deposit for this group comes on the third Wednesday of January. The agency’s 2027 schedule puts that on Jan. 20, followed by Feb. 17 and March 17.

The size of the increase depends on the benefit. The 2027 COLA fact sheet estimates the average retired worker’s check goes from $2,095 to $2,170 a month, a gain of $75. The average aged couple, both receiving benefits, goes from $3,238 to $3,355. The average disabled worker goes from $1,642 to $1,701.

The 3.6% figure comes from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The third-quarter average of that index rose from 317.265 in 2025 to 328.746 in 2026, according to the actuary’s page.

What the 2027 change looks like on paper

The agency’s announcement of the 2027 raise says it affects about 76 million Social Security and SSI recipients. Notices explaining each person’s new amount are posted online and mailed before the first raised payment.

According to the agency’s COLA information page, people who created a my Social Security account by Nov. 18, 2026 can read their notice in the online Message Center in late November. For beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare, the 2027 benefit amount becomes available in December through the mailed notice and the Message Center. Paper notices are mailed in early December.

Those notices arrive before the Dec. 16 deposit for many people, which can cause confusion. The new figure printed on the notice is the January 2027 amount. The Dec. 16 payment will still match what arrived on Nov. 18.

The Nov. 18 date is itself the middle group’s November payday under the 2026 schedule, and the site’s earlier guide to the Dec. 9 and Dec. 16 payments lays out how the first two December groups line up.

Working beneficiaries and the 2027 earnings limits

Some people in the Dec. 16 group still work. For them, the new year brings higher earnings limits along with the raise. The COLA information page sets the 2027 limit at $25,560 for beneficiaries under full retirement age for the whole year, with $1 withheld for every $2 earned above it. For people reaching full retirement age in 2027, the limit is $67,920, with $1 withheld for every $3 above it until the month before they reach that age.

Beneficiaries who are at full retirement age or older for the entire year have no earnings limit. The maximum taxable earnings figure for 2027 rises to $192,300, the agency says.

The rest of the December calendar

The Dec. 16 deposit sits in the middle of a crowded month. SSI arrives Dec. 1, the 3rd-of-the-month group is paid Dec. 3, the first birthday group on Dec. 9, and the last birthday group on Dec. 23, as covered in the site’s look at the Dec. 23 payment two days before Christmas.

Then SSI recipients and the 3rd-of-the-month group get a second deposit on Thursday, Dec. 31, which is their January payment moved up because the federal holiday calendar puts New Year’s Day on Friday, Jan. 1. Under the 2027 schedule, the Jan. 1 SSI payment and the Jan. 3 payment both fall on a holiday or weekend.

For the middle birthday group, none of that applies. The household’s next two deposits are Dec. 16 at the 2026 amount and Jan. 20 with the 3.6% raise built in, a five-week gap that includes the most expensive stretch of the year.

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

Image: Coolcaesar – CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons