The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced earlier this fall that Social Security recipients will receive a historically large cost-of-living allowance (COLA) increase in early 2022. The benefits will rise 5.9 percent when most years feature an increase in the low single digits.

The reason for the increase is that the COLA is tied to inflation, and because of rising inflation this year, the COLA increase is larger than normal.

The average recipient will receive an estimated monthly average of $1,657, including $90 each month due to the increase, while the average couple will get an average monthly benefit of $2,754 per month, an increase of $154. It represents the largest COLA increase since the early 1980s.

“The guaranteed benefits provided by Social Security and the COLA increase are more crucial than ever as millions of Americans continue to face the health and economic impacts of the pandemic,” American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) CEO Jo Ann Jenkins said in a statement in October when the increase was first announced.

But when will the first benefits arrive?

According to CBS News, the changes will go into effect in January. And when the benefits first arrive will depend on your birthday.

Checks will arrive on January 12 for those born between the first and tenth of the month. They will come on January nineteenth for those born between the eleventh and the twentieth, and on January 26 for those born after the twentieth.

Social Security recipients are urged to visit their My Social Security account for more information on their payments and how they will arrive.

Some are worried that even with the increase in COLA, seniors may find themselves in financial worry as a result of the continuing inflation.

"We are still going to see this tremendous problem with prices increasing faster than the COLA," Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at the Senior Citizens League, told CBS News.

The other big piece of news this year about Social Security is that the main fund that funds that program is scheduled to run out of money in 2033, a year earlier than previously believed. That means the SSA will be unable to pay out full benefits beginning in 2034 unless action is taken by Congress to shore up that fund.

One member of Congress, Rep. John Larson (D-CT), is taking steps to address that issue, introducing a piece of legislation called Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, Larson recently held a hearing on the legislation, which has nearly 200 co-sponsors. However, the Biden administration has not endorsed the bill.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters