Dwayne Page

Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for more than 72.5 million Americans will increase 2.5 percent in 2025, the Social Security Administration announced today. On average, Social Security retirement benefits will increase by about $50 per month starting in January.

Over the last decade the COLA increase has averaged about 2.6 percent. The COLA was 3.2 percent in 2024.
Nearly 68 million Social Security beneficiaries will see a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) beginning in January 2025. Increased payments to nearly 7.5 million people receiving SSI will begin on December 31, 2024. (Note: Some people receive both Social Security benefits and SSI).

“Social Security benefits and SSI payments will increase in 2025, helping tens of millions of people keep up with expenses even as inflation has started to cool,” said Martin O’Malley, Commissioner of Social Security.

Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) is slated to increase to $176,100 from $168,600.

Social Security began notifying people about their new benefit amount by mail starting in early December.
This year, for the first time, Social Security beneficiaries will receive a newly designed and improved COLA notice that makes it easier for customers to find the information they need most. The simplified COLA notice is now only one page, uses plain and personalized language, and provides exact dates and dollar amounts of a person’s new benefit amount and any deductions.

Individuals who have a personal my Social Security account can view their COLA notice online, which is secure, easy, and faster than receiving a letter in the mail. People can set up text or email alerts when there is a new message–such as their COLA notice–waiting for them in my Social Security.

People needed to have a personal my Social Security account by Nov. 20 to see their COLA notice online. To get started, visit www.ssa.gov/myaccount.

Information about Medicare changes for 2025 are available at https://www.medicare.gov. For Social Security beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare, the 2025 benefit amount were available via my Social Security’s Message Center starting in late November. Those who have not opted to receive messages online were to receive their COLA notice by mail in December.

The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To read more, please visit www.ssa.gov/cola.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) $2 billion Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) program, aimed at helping specialty crop producers expand markets and manage higher costs, is now accepting applications through Jan. 8, 2025.

To be eligible for MASC, a producer must be in business at the time of application, maintain an ownership share and share in the risk of producing a specialty crop that will be sold in calendar year 2025.

MASC covers the following commercially marketed specialty crops:

•Fruits (fresh, dried);
•Vegetables (including dry edible beans and peas, mushrooms, and vegetable seed);
•Tree nuts;
•Nursery crops, Christmas trees, and floriculture;
•Culinary and medicinal herbs and spices; and
•Honey, hops, maple sap, tea, turfgrass and grass seed.

Eligible established specialty crop producers can apply for MASC benefits by completing the FSA-1140, Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) Program Application, and submitting the form to any FSA county office by Jan. 8, 2025. When applying, eligible specialty crop producers must certify their specialty crop sales for calendar year 2023 or 2024.

New specialty crop producers are required to certify 2025 expected sales, submit an FSA-1141 application and provide certain documentation to support reported sales i.e., receipts, contracts, acreage reports, input receipts, etc.

For MASC program participation, eligible specialty crop sales only include sales of commercially marketed raw specialty crops grown in the United States by the producer. The portion of sales derived from adding value to a specialty crop (such as sorting, processing, or packaging) is not included when determining eligible sales.

For established specialty crop growers, FSA will calculate MASC payments based on the producer’s total specialty crop sales for the calendar year elected by the producer. Payments for new producers will be based on their expected 2025 calendar year sales.

FSA will issue MASC payments after the end of the application period. If demand for MASC payments exceeds available funding, MASC payments may be prorated, and the payment limitation of $125,000 may be lowered. If additional funding is available after MASC payments are issued, FSA may issue an additional payment.