There is good news for retirees earning Social Security: the first December payment is going to arrive in their bank accounts. The Social Security Administration (SSA) distributes payments on a staggered schedule for the five programs it manages: survivors, disability, family, retirement, and supplementary security income (SSI), with the first payments due to go out soon.
Well, that is not fully correct. SSA payments are separated into two primary categories:
- SSI payments
- Survivors, disability, family, retirement: and these are divided into two different categories as well. Those who started claiming benefits before May 1997
- Those who started claiming benefits after May 1997
The Social Security payment schedule
SSI benefits are distributed on the first day of each month. This is, of course, provided that the date does not coincide with a weekend or national holiday, in which case the payment is sent out ahead of time to avoid delays.
In months such as December. When the 1st fell on a Sunday, the payment was received a month earlier, occasionally resulting in a double payment. The problem is widespread enough that the SSA issued a statement explaining:
“We do this to avoid putting you at a financial disadvantage and make sure that you don’t have to wait beyond the first of the month to get your payment,” the Social Security Administration announced in a 2022 blog post. “It does not mean that you are receiving a duplicate payment in the previous month, so you do not need to contact us to report the second payment.”
Continuing with the timetable, people who began claiming benefits prior to May 1997 receive payments on the third of each month, with the same weekend and national holiday exclusions as SSI beneficiaries. This month’s payment was made on Tuesday of last week, as anticipated.
This takes us to the final set of payments: people who began claiming benefits after May 1997. These payments have a more convoluted regulation because they account for the majority of the SSA’s payouts, and they are split by the recipients’ birth dates. It sounds more complicated than it is, and the distribution schedule is simple to understand.
Recipients with birthdays on the 1st-10th of the month will receive their benefits on the second Wednesday of each month, those born on the 11th-20th will receive payouts on the third Wednesday, and those born on the 21st-31st will receive payments on the fourth Wednesday. The National Holiday date change continues to apply to these benefits.
In practice, this implies that persons with birthdays between the first and tenth of the month will receive their reward on December 11. The remainder of the payments will be issued in:
- December 18: Payment for those with a birthday between the 11th and 20th of any month and are beneficiaries after May 1997.
- December 24: Payment for those born between the 21st and 31st of any month, and are beneficiaries after May 1997. The payment should go out on the 25th, but that is Christmas Day, and thus a National Holiday. This means that the payment is delivered in advance to ensure that beneficiaries are not negatively affected by any potential delays.
Even though the final SSI payment of the year was made in December and has already been paid, an additional SSI payment will be distributed in 2024.
It will be the January payment, which will be sent out on December 31st because January 1st is a national holiday. This means that the 2.5% cost of living rise that will be applied to all benefits in the coming year will already be factored into this payment.
