Every month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) releases millions of payments for beneficiaries in order for them to use the cash to support themselves and cover their monthly expenses. In order for beneficiaries to track their expenses accurately, the SSA follows a strict schedule each month for when payments are released. Payments are distributed according to when your birthday is, the type of Social Security Payment you receive, as well as if you receive payments from multiple funds.
How the SSA staggers its payments through the month to avoid overloading the system
Each month, instead of the SSA releasing all their beneficiaries’ payments on the same day, payments are released in staggered batches throughout the month. Payments are generally made every Wednesday for recipients. For this month, SSA beneficiaries should take note of the following payment dates:
- Wednesday, June 11: For beneficiaries with birth dates between the first and 10th of the month.
- Wednesday, June 18: For beneficiaries with birthdates between the 11th and the 20th of the month.
- Wednesday, June 25: For beneficiaries with birth dates between the 21st and the 31st of the month
However, regardless of when your birthdate is, if you claimed your Social Security benefits before May 1997 or receive both retirement and Supplementary Security Income (SSI) from the SSA, your benefits are paid out on the third of every month. If you only receive SSI, this payment is then made on the first of the month. SSI beneficiaries would have received their June payment on May 30 this year due to June 1 falling on a public holiday for 2025.
These two groups may receive the maximum payment of $5,000
According to the Social Security payment schedule, you can expect to receive your Social Security payment today if your birthday falls between the 11th and 20th of the month, while next week Wednesday beneficiaries with a birthdate between the 21st and 31st of the month can expect to receive their payment. Of these two groups, some beneficiaries may receive over $5,000.
If you are a Social Security beneficiary, the maximum Social Security payment you can receive is $5,108. However, you can only receive this payment amount provided you have worked for at least 35 years, have 40 working credits, and wait to claim your benefits until you are 70 years old. While the SSA allows you to claim your benefits as early as 62 years old with no penalty, the Administration rewards you with higher monthly benefits should you chose to delay claiming until you reach the full retirement age (FRS).
Higher payments for this group of beneficiaries
While not all SSA recipients will be receiving the maximum payment amount of $5,108, this year, many beneficiaries saw their payments increase and it was not due to the cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) statistic. Usually, once you claim your benefits, the amount you receive is fixed and your benefits only increase when COLA is applied by the SSA each year.
However, this year, the federal government recently repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) with the new Fairness Act. This new act means that those beneficiaries who receive a pension not subject to SSA taxes will finally be able to have their Social Security benefits increased, due to the SSA previously reducing benefits.
While the increase in payments is a great relief to the affected pensioners of these two laws, many are concerned that the increase in benefits will put further strain on the SSA. The retirement fund is predicted to be depleted by the early 2030s unless intervention by the federal government is assumed with immediate effect. At the moment, the two options the Administration has to increase the longevity of the fund are to either increase Social Security taxes or to reduce current beneficiaries’ payments.
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. For more information, check our Trust Principles.
