The Social Security Administration (SSA) sends out millions of payments to their beneficiaries every month, the large majority of which are retirees. However, the SSA also supports those with disabilities as well as people are have little to no income or resources, with some beneficiaries receiving for more than one of these funds. Of the approximately 70 million beneficiaries, some will be receiving $5,000 this month, provided you meet the qualifying criteria.
SSA follows a strict payment schedule
The SSA’s payment schedule is rigid and timeous. Not only does it make the scheduling of payments easier from an admin perspective but many of the SSA beneficiaries rely solely on their SSA payments in order to cover their monthly expenses. As such, it is a priority of the SSA to ‘never miss a payment,’ a statement they have held true since their inception, even during World War Two.
The following schedule is a cornerstone as to how the SSA structures their payments each month:
- 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, certain recipients are exempt from this scheduling. If you do not receive retirement benefits, and only receive Supplementary Security Income (SSI), your benefits are paid out on the first of every month. However, if you receive both SSI and retirement benefits, you are paid on the third of every month. Additionally, those who claimed their retirement benefits before May 1997 are also paid out on the third of every month, regardless of birthdates.
Who will receive $5,000 from the SSA this month?
The next round of SSA payments will be released on July 16, next week Wednesday, for those who have a birthdate between the 11th and 20th according to the Social Security payment schedule. Of these individuals, some will be receiving the maximum Social Security payment of $5,108. However, not all qualify for these maximum payment. The average recipient is paid approximately $2,000 in retirement benefits by the SSA.
Those who receive the maximum payment from the SSA are able to do so because they meet the following criteria:
- The only claimed their retirement benefits at age 70
- They have at least 40 working credits
- They paid Social Security tax for at least 35 working years
The key criteria here is that you waited to claim your benefits before 70 years old. While you can claim retirement benefits as early as 62 years old, the SSA rewards beneficiaries with higher benefits should they wait to claim.
Is it possible to increase your SSA benefits?
If you are not an individual who currently receives the maximum SSA retirement benefits, you may be wondering how you can increase your benefits. As it stands, once you claim your benefits, you cannot increase your benefits. The only way benefits are raised each year is through the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) statistic, which is applied to all SSA benefits every year in order to ensure that beneficiaries can keep up with cost of living and keep the same buying power.
However, there are ways outside of waiting until 70 years old which you can use to ensure the maximum amount of benefits payable to you if you have not yet claimed. One particular less-known method is how to stagger when you claim spousal benefits. Additionally, if you are a divorced couple, you are not exempt from these benefits either. As a divorcee, you are still eligible to claim spousal benefits if you and your former spouse were married for at least ten years.
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.
