Social Security checks saw a 2.5% boost this month thanks to the latest cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). For most retirees, this is the only benefit increase they can expect all year. Their checks won't go up again until the next COLA takes effect in January 2026.

The money came back when the Department of Treasury gained access to the Social Security Administration's "Full Death Master File."

The third round of January’s Social Security payments, worth up to $5,108 for the highest-income earners who retire at age 70, will go out to the third group of retirees in six days. Retirees born on or after the 21st of a month will receive their payments on Jan.

The U.S. government clawed back more than $31 million in federal payments that improperly went to dead people, a recovery that one official said Wednesday was “just the tip of the iceberg.” The money was reclaimed as part of a five-month pilot program after Congress gave the Department of Treasury temporary access to the Social Security Administration ’s “Full Death Master File” for three years as part of the omnibus appropriations bill in 2021.

Rumors of Social Security payments being issued to dead people have circulate for years, and it turns out that there was in fact an issue.

The Treasury Department recovered more than $31 million in Social Security payments made to dead people due to a five-month pilot program approved by Congress. The pilot program has given the Treasury temporary access to the Social Security Administration’s “Full Death Master File” for three years as part of a 2021 appropriations bill.

In a groundbreaking initiative, the U.S. Treasury Department has successfully recovered over $31 million in Social Security overpayments made to deceased individuals.