Received unexpected small Social Security payment today - normal deposit comes on 2nd Wednesday?

Sounds like it could be a retroactive COLA adjustment, but the timing seems odd since those usually come earlier in the year. Did you work at all last year while collecting benefits? Might be an earnings recalculation if you were under FRA when working.

This happened to me back in November! Turned out to be a one-time payment for an underpayment from when they first calculated my benefits. They made an error in my earnings record that was fixed during a routine review. Check your mail in the next week - you should get a letter explaining the payment. Mine came about 5 days AFTER the surprise money hit my account. The MySocialSecurity site is often delayed by weeks in showing these adjustments. If you're worried, you could call them, but be prepared for a LONG wait time.

I JUST dealt with something similar!!! Got a small payment of $412 out of nowhere three weeks ago. Called SSA and spent THREE HOURS on hold before getting disconnected. Called again next day - another 2 hours wasted!!! Finally went to my local office and waited 4 hours to be seen. Turns out it was an adjustment for Medicare premium overpayments from 2022-2023. They had me in wrong income bracket for IRMAA and finally fixed it. But OF COURSE they couldn't tell me this without me wasting a whole day!!!

just take the money lol. if they want it back they'll let u know. free money is free money

The most efficient way to find out is to call SSA directly. However, if you've tried calling, you've likely experienced the frustration of long wait times or disconnections. I've had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent quickly. They have a service that basically waits on hold for you and calls you when an agent is on the line. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU showing how it works. Whatever the payment is for - underpayment correction, Medicare premium adjustment, or earnings recalculation - the agent can look it up immediately in their system even if the letter hasn't been generated yet.

Now that I think about it more - there was actually a Medicare Part B premium decrease for 2024 (from $164.90 to $174.70). If you have Medicare premiums deducted from your Social Security, they might be retroactively adjusting for the first few months of 2024. That would explain the random smaller amount.

Check if they didnt take out taxes earlier!!!! My brother had extra withholding applied to his acct by mistake after filing a W4-V years ago. They suddenly "fixed" it and sent him back money from earlier this year. No explanation til he got a letter weeks later!!

UPDATE: You all were right! I finally got a letter in the mail today explaining the payment. It was indeed a Medicare IRMAA adjustment based on my 2023 tax return showing lower income than 2021. They had me in a higher premium bracket and are refunding the difference for the first part of 2024. Mystery solved! Thank you all for your help and suggestions!