This one group will soon receive a new payment from the Social Security Administration (SSA), with some expecting over $5,000 if they meet the qualifying criteria. The SSA is responsible for the distribution of approximately 70 million payments each month to its beneficiaries, the majority of which are retirees, but also payments for beneficiaries who qualify to be in the Supplementary Security Income (SSI) program, as well as the Disability payments program.
How do you qualify for SSA payments?
The SSA qualifying criteria to receive benefits differ depending on which program you are applying for. The criteria for the retirement program, from which the majority of SSA recipients receive benefits, are largely based on your working history and how long you have paid Social Security taxes. In addition, benefit amounts differ depending on when you choose to claim your benefits.
For SSI and Disability benefits, your qualifying criteria largely depend on your income level. Unlike the retirement program, whereby your income from other sources does not affect your ability to receive benefits from the SSA, SSI is reserved for those who have little to no income or resources. If your financial circumstance then changes to exceed a certain threshold, you may then no longer qualify to receive benefits. Similarly, you not only have to have a disability that renders you unable to earn an income to receive Disability benefits, but you cannot qualify to receive these benefits if you earn above a certain threshold.
Who will get $5,200 payment from the SSA?
Next week, a new round of Social Security payments is set to go out. The general payment structure the SSA follows when distributing benefits is as follows:
- The second Wednesday of the month: Birth dates between the first and the 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 dates differ if you receive SSI benefits or if you claimed your benefits before May 1997. According to the Social Security payment schedule, this coming Wednesday, August 27, will see Social Security beneficiaries with a birthdate between the 21st and 31st of any given month receive their benefits.
Of these beneficiaries, some will receive the maximum Social Security payment of $5,108. However, in order to receive this maximum payment, there are a number of qualifying criteria that beneficiaries need to meet, with the most important about when you decide to claim your benefits.
While you are allowed to claim your retirement benefits as early as 62 years old, the SSA rewards beneficiaries with higher monthly payments if you choose to delay until you are 70 years old. If you want to receive the maximum payment of $5,102, you must ensure that you do not claim your benefits until you are 70 years old, among other criteria.
Watch out for this date next month
Next month is an important time for all SSA beneficiaries to take note of, as the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) statistic will be announced on October 15. When you claim your retirement benefits from the SSA, you cannot increase the amount you receive each month except when the COLA statistic is applied.
This statistic is applied to all SSA recipients’ benefits in order to ensure that their benefits retain the same buying power in order to beat inflation. Some analysts have suggested that the new COLA will be similar to this year’s one. While it may seem counterintuitive, when it comes to the COLA statistic, you actually want it to be lower as opposed to higher. A lower COLA statistic indicates that prices for essential expenses have remained somewhat stable.
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.
