Social Security News & COLA

When does my money arrive, how much will it go up, and what's changing in Washington?

NOT A GOVERNMENT APP: Social Security News is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Social Security Administration, Medicare (CMS) or any government agency. Official sources are linked below.

YOUR PAYMENT DATES
Tell the app how you are paid (on a Wednesday by birth date, on the 3rd, or SSI on the 1st) and it shows your next payment day and the whole year's schedule, with weekends and federal holidays already worked in. It explains why some months have two SSI payments, and can remind you the evening before. Everything you enter stays on your phone.

THE COLA TRACKER
Next year's cost-of-living adjustment, worked out the way the law does it, from the government's inflation figures as each month comes in, and final the morning September's figure is published. Enter your monthly benefit to see your new check. Every COLA since 1975 on one chart, and an optional notification the day the new one is official.

WHEN TO CLAIM
From your date of birth: your full retirement age, the first month you can claim, and what claiming at every age from 62 to 70 pays. Add the benefit from your Social Security statement for dollar amounts and totals by age 80, 85 and 90, so you can see where waiting pays off. Also: how the earnings limit works if you keep working, and the exact dates of your Medicare sign-up window, with reminders.

BENEFIT CALCULATORS
No statement to hand? Estimate your benefit from what you earn, with SSA's own formula and this year's figures. Work out a spouse's benefit (up to half of your husband's or wife's) and a survivor's benefit for a widow or widower, at every age you could claim.

THIS YEAR'S NUMBERS
This year's COLA, the earnings limits, the taxable maximum, SSI and disability amounts, the Medicare Part B premium and deductibles, IRMAA thresholds and the trust fund outlook, in one place and updated each year. Medicare's Open Enrollment and other windows, with reminders before they open and close.

EXPLAINED
COLA, FRA, PIA, IRMAA, SGA, Medigap, Extra Help: when a headline uses a term, tap it for a plain-English explanation, or search over 50 of them. Works offline.

THE NEWS
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid news from publishers across the web, by topic: the COLA, retirement, disability and SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, scams and fraud, and Washington. When several outlets carry the same story, it shows once. Follow the topics you care about, with a notification at most once a day for each.

SCAM WARNING SIGNS
What the agencies never ask for, and where to report a call that does.

OFFICIAL SOURCES
Check anything that matters to you with the official source:
Social Security Administration: https://www.ssa.gov/
Your my Social Security account: https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/
The COLA and this year's figures: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/
Inflation figures, CPI-W (Bureau of Labor Statistics): https://www.bls.gov/cpi/
Medicare: https://www.medicare.gov/
Medicaid: https://www.medicaid.gov/
The Trustees reports: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/TR/
Report a Social Security scam: https://oig.ssa.gov/report/

WHAT IT CAN'T DO
This app is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Social Security Administration, Medicare (CMS) or any government agency. It is an independent news reader and planner. Figures come from public sources (SSA, CMS and Medicare.gov, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), and the news is written by the publishers it links to, not by us. Payment dates and estimates are for planning: your my Social Security account at ssa.gov has your own figures, and those are the ones that count. The app cannot see your benefits, apply for anything or contact the agencies for you.

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Recent changes:
Share any story: press and hold it in the list, or tap Share on a story. New Text size setting in Settings, for larger headlines on top of your phone's own size. If notifications are turned off for the app, Settings now shows how to turn them back on. Plus smaller fixes and improvements.