Social Security Benefit Pay Increasing: Here's How it Will Impact Your Check

If you are one of 60 million Americans receiving social security benefits you are getting a pay raise of 3.9 percent beginning in January 2012 , according to the U.S. Social Security Administration . The increase is due to a cost of living adjustment (COLA).

The 2012 increase, the first since the 5.8 percent increase given in 2009, should put an extra $25 in the pockets of those receiving $700 a month in social security benefits and $50 more a month for those bringing in $1,400 monthly.

Fox News reported that the average bring home for social security recipients, however, is $1,082, which would result in those individuals getting an extra $39 in their checks each month, beginning the first of next year.

Unfortunately, the additional money in retiree's pocket due to the increase is most likely going to be offset by the increase to Medicare Part B premiums, which are expected to rise early next year -- and are deducted from social security checks before being processed and mailed. For information regarding that anticipated increase, access the website Medicare.gov.

The Strengthen Social Security Campaign says that seniors dealt with rising out-of-pocket health care costs of 14.1 percent this year, according to Fox News, which easily consumed any increase expected to be forthcoming next year.