If you're expecting a Social Security check in December, mark your calendar—the payment schedule is getting shuffled around thanks to some inconvenient holiday timing.

The Payment Shuffle

The Social Security Administration, which provides Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to adults and children with limited income and qualifying disabilities, is adjusting its December schedule. Don't worry, nobody's missing a check. The dates are just moving around.

Here's how it breaks down: SSI benefits normally arrive on the first of each month, but holidays and weekends throw a wrench in that routine. The December 1 payment will land as expected, but then beneficiaries will see another check on December 31. That second payment isn't a bonus—it's January's benefit arriving early because of the New Year holiday. Then there's a third payment coming January 30, which is actually February's benefit, since February 1 falls on a Sunday, according to The Hill.

So yes, three payments in two months. But it's not extra money, just calendar gymnastics.

The Cost-of-Living Bump

Traditional Social Security benefits follow a different schedule based on recipients' birth dates. Come January, nearly 71 million Social Security recipients will see a 2.8% increase in their payments—about $56 more per month on average—thanks to the annual cost-of-living adjustment. For the approximately 7.5 million SSI recipients, that increase kicks in with the December 31 payment.

Why This Matters

The schedule change could mess with budgeting for people who depend on these benefits arriving on specific dates each month. And that 2.8% increase might not feel like much relief—many beneficiaries are facing an estimated $18 increase in Medicare Part B premiums, plus a $26 bump in the annual deductible. Those rising healthcare costs could eat into whatever gains the cost-of-living adjustment provides.