The Social Security Administration (SSA) sends millions of payments every month to its approximately 70 million beneficiaries, a large number of whom rely on these payments as their sole source of income to cover their monthly expenses. As such, the SSA adheres to a rigorous and timely payment schedule to ensure that its beneficiaries can budget accordingly. Next week, another round of payments will go out to recipients; however, one group will have to wait until August to receive their payments.
When does the SSA send payments to beneficiaries?
The SSA does not deviate from its set payment schedule unless the scheduled payment date falls on a weekend or holiday. Payments are scheduled according to when your birthdate is, what type of payment you receive, and when you claimed your benefits. Benefits paid out to recipients from the SSA include retirement benefits, Supplementary Security Income (SSI) for those with very little to no income or resources, and Disability benefits for those who are unable to work.
The SSA follows the following general payment schedule for beneficiaries:
- The second Wednesday of the month: Birth dates between the first and 10th of the month.
- The third Wednesday of the month: Birth dates between the 11th and 20th of the month.
- The fourth Wednesday of the month: Birth dates between the 21st and 31st of the month.
However, these payment dates do not apply to beneficiaries who are only receiving an SSI income from the SSA. If you receive SSI only, you are paid on the first of every month. If you are an SSI beneficiary who also receives retirement benefits, you are paid on the third of the month, along with beneficiaries who claimed their benefits from the SSA before May 1997.
Who will not receive their benefits next week?
According to the Social Security payment schedule, next week Wednesday will see beneficiaries with a birthdate between the 11th and 20th of the month be paid out. However, SSI-only beneficiaries will have to wait until August 1 for their next round of payments to be released. This remains in accordance with the regular SSA schedule, where SSI-only beneficiaries were paid on the first of this month.
Next month, the SSI maximum payment beneficiaries can receive from the SSA amounts to $967 for an individual claiming SSI, while $1,450 is the maximum payment paid out to a couple. Unlike retirement benefits, SSI benefit eligibility is dependent on your income level and value of your resources, as well as other factors such as your household size. Should your income circumstances change, you may not be available to receive SSI anymore.
According to the SSA, your SSI benefits are reduced in the following way: For every $2 you earn from work, benefits are reduced by about $1. For every $1 you earn from non-work sources, benefits are reduced by $1.
Who qualifies for the maximum retirement benefits?
While SSI beneficiaries will not be seeing a new payment until next month, next week’s beneficiaries who receive retirement payments may see a payment as high as $5,108. While this is the maximum payment you can claim from the SSA for your retirement for this year, the average retiree is not receiving this amount, with the average payment amounting to approximately $2,000.
If you would like to be able to claim the maximum retirement benefit from the SSA, you need to meet a variety of criteria; however, the most important criterion is that you wait until you are 70 years old to make your claim for your benefits. The SSA rewards beneficiaries with higher benefits should you choose to wait to claim longer than the minimum age of 62. However, past 70 years old, you do not receive anymore increased benefits from the SSA for delaying your claim.
Disclaimer: This content is informational only and does not supersede or replace the SSA’s or IRS’s own publications and notices. Always verify any specific dates and amounts by following the direct links in our article to SSA.gov or IRS.gov, or by consulting your local SSA field office or tax professional.
