Each month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends out millions of checks to recipients. A significant number of SSA beneficiaries rely on these checks each month as their sole source of income. Because of this, retirees and other beneficiaries who receive Social Security are particularly sensitive to price changes, increases in cost-of-living, and any changes to the income in their payments. This month, some good news is coming for two groups of SSA beneficiaries who will see an increase in payments.
When are SSA payments made?
The SSA follows a strict payment schedule each month which it rarely deviates from to ensure that beneficiaries can plan and budget their monthly expenses with the utmost accuracy, with the confidence that they will be paid at a reliable and predictable date. Generally, retirement and Disability checks are sent out according to the following schedule:
- Wednesday, June 11: Birth dates between the first and 10th of the month.
- Wednesday, June 18: Birth dates between the 11th and the 20th of the month.
- Wednesday, June 25: Birth dates between the 21st and the 31st of the month
However, if you claimed your Social Security income before May 1997, your payments are made on the third of each month. If you receive Supplementary Security Income (SSI) in addition to your retirement benefits, these payments are also made on the third. If you only receive SSI, this group of individuals receives their payments on the first of each month.
Last month, SSI recipients may have noticed that they received two payments, one on the predicted May 1 and another on May 30. This extra payment was, in reality, the June 1 payment. This year, June 1 fell on a weekend which mean that the payment was advanced for recipients. This was also the case for veterans who receive compensation for service-related disabilities by the US Department of Veteran Affairs, as they are also paid on the first of each month.
Increased payments for these groups this month
This month, some beneficiaries of the SSA may have noticed that their payments have increased. Generally, Social Security benefits only increase with the Social Security COLA increase each year. The cost-of-living adjustment statistic, otherwise known as COLA, raises your Social Security payments each year in order to keep up with the rising cost of living. This year’s increase was 2.5%.
However, from February, the Social Security Fairness Act has sprung into action. Signed into law in January of this year, the Act raises the benefits of retirees who were previously affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These individuals generally fell into two camps: Those who receive a pension from work not covered by Social Security taxes and those who were previously subject to WEP or GPO reductions.
Retroactive payments from 2024 for these individuals
The SSA will be restoring the full benefits of these individuals all the way back from January 2024. The WEP act was initially introduced to adjust the benefits from the SSA of those who did not pay taxes for Social Security due to receiving a noncovered pension while GOP was introduced to reduce the benefits of spouses, widows, and widowers who received their own government pensions.
The new change is met with great relief from pensioners and advocacy efforts which have bene fighting to have these two bills removed for years. However, the increase in benefits does raise concern over the already strained longevity of the SSA. The fund in its current state is expected to be depleted by the early 2030s, and the increase in benefits is expected to put increased pressure on the funds reserve unless significant adjustments are made to increase the fund’s longevity.
