Every month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends millions of payments to beneficiaries and recipients, the majority of which are retirees. In addition, the SSA also supports individuals who have a disability as well as those with very little to no income or resources. These payments are made on a staggered schedule every month, and your payment date depends on which of these funds you have access to, as well as other factors. This week, some beneficiaries may be seeing as much as $5,000 paid out to their accounts.
How the SSA structures their payments
The SSA has a rigid and timely schedule for its beneficiaries. This is very important, as many of these beneficiaries rely on their Social Security benefits as their sole source of income to cover their expenses each month. The standard payment schedule the SSA adheres to each month is as follows:
- 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 are not applicable to you if you receive Supplementary Security Income (SSI). Those beneficiaries who receive only SSI and not retirement or disability are always paid out on the first of each month, while beneficiaries who receive SSI and retirement benefits are paid out on the third of every month. Additionally, if you are a beneficiary who claimed your retirement benefits before May 1997, you are also paid on the third of every month.
When will the SSA send out $5,000?
For SSA retirement beneficiaries, the amount that you receive in benefits varies greatly depending on when you claimed your benefits, your working history, and the number of working credits that you have earned. The maximum amount you can claim from the SSA for retirement benefits is $5,108. However, to receive this full amount, you need to ensure the following:
- You have paid into Social Security for at least 35 years
- You have 40 working credits
- You waited to claim your benefits until you reached 70 years old
According to the Social Security payment schedule, tomorrow, Wednesday, 9 July, will see the first round of general retirement benefits released, excluding SSI beneficiaries. Some of these beneficiaries will be receiving the maximum Social Security payment; however, the average retirement beneficiary receives approximately $2,000.
Which SSA beneficiaries will have their benefits raised?
This year, some retirement beneficiaries may have noticed that their benefits were raised this year. Usually, once you claim your benefits from the SSA, your benefits are set at that amount. The only way they are raised is when the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) index is applied each year in order to ensure that beneficiaries continue to have the same buying power with their money to keep up with inflation and rising cost-of-living.
However, this year, the Social Security Fairness Act went into effect, which will raise the benefits of millions of SSA recipients who have been affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These two acts mostly affected recipients who worked in a public service career, whereby they received a pension that was not subject to the SSA tax.
The repeal of WEP and GPO means that these beneficiaries will now have increased monthly benefits. In addition, the SSA has since started releasing back payments from January 2024 to make up for the loss of income these recipients experienced. This is a major milestone for beneficiaries, as the increased income means that retirees have more leeway with their spending and have increased income to cover their expenses, a significant concern for many retirees.
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.
