{"id":184001,"date":"2025-12-14T23:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T23:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/184001\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T23:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T23:55:09","slug":"social-security-benefits-to-go-out-on-wednesday-dec-17-heres-who-gets-a-payment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/184001\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Security benefits to go out on Wednesday, Dec. 17: here\u2019s who gets a payment"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday next week, the U.S.\u2019s Social Security<\/a> Administration (SSA) is to send out benefits to millions of recipients nationwide, in what will be the fourth payment run on the agency\u2019s December distribution schedule.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s getting a Social Security payment on Wednesday, Dec. 17?<\/p>\n

On Dec. 17, payments are to be issued to certain recipients of retirement benefits, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or survivor checks.<\/p>\n

Of the nearly 70.4 million Americans who receive retirement, SSDI or survivor benefits, most are paid on the second, third or fourth Wednesday in each month. <\/p>\n

A beneficiary\u2019s designated Wednesday is determined by the date of birth of the worker whose Social Security taxes have accumulated the benefits entitlement. <\/p>\n

As it falls on the third Wednesday in December, next week\u2019s payment run will cover birthdays between the 11th and 20th of each month.<\/p>\n

At a glance – Dec. schedule for 2nd, 3rd & 4th Wednesday payments:Born on 1st to 10th of each month: Weds., Dec. 10Born on 11th to 20th of each month: Weds., Dec. 17Born on 21st to 31st of each month: Weds., Dec. 24Who isn\u2019t paid on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th Wednesday in Dec.? Certain long-term Social Security recipients<\/p>\n

If you began receiving retirement, SSDI or survivor benefits before May 1997, your check typically goes out on the third day of each month, regardless of your date of birth.<\/p>\n

These long-term beneficiaries were therefore scheduled to be paid for December on Wednesday, Dec. 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The roughly 7.4 million beneficiaries of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – a separate SSA benefit for low-income individuals who are over 65 or have a disability – are normally paid on the first day of each month. <\/p>\n

Consequently, December\u2019s SSI payments were due to be distributed on Monday, Dec. 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dual beneficiaries (SSI + regular Social Security)<\/p>\n

Around 2.5 million people in the U.S. receive both SSI and one of the SSA\u2019s retirement, SSDI or survivor benefits. <\/p>\n

These recipients were scheduled to get the former on Dec. 1, followed by the latter on Dec. 3.<\/p>\n

At a glance – Dec. payment dates not determined by birthday:SSI beneficiaries: Mon., Dec. 1Pre-May \u201997 Social Sec. recipients: Weds., Dec. 3Dual beneficiaries: SSI on Mon., Dec. 1; Social Sec. on Weds., Dec. 3<\/p>\n

You can take a look at the SSA\u2019s complete benefits-distribution schedule for 2025 in this online calendar<\/a>. The agency has also shared its schedule for 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How much is paid to Social Security retirement beneficiaries?<\/p>\n

Retired workers – who represent the vast majority of the U.S.\u2019s Social Security recipients – are paid an average of $2,013.32 a month, according to the SSA\u2019s latest figures<\/a>. The maximum monthly retirement benefit currently stands at $5,108, the SSA says<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How much do disability, survivor and SSI beneficiaries get?<\/p>\n

Per the SSA, disabled workers get an average of $1,588.52 a month, and recipients of survivor benefits are paid $1,576.20 a month on average. Beneficiaries of the SSI program receive a monthly average of $717.90.<\/p>\n

COLA increase coming in 2026<\/p>\n

In October, the SSA announced<\/a> that its beneficiaries are to receive a 2.8% increase in their payments in 2026. This comes as part of the agency\u2019s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). For Americans on retirement benefits, this will translate into an an average monthly rise<\/a> of $56, the SSA says.<\/p>\n

The first recipients<\/a> of the new monthly payments will be beneficiaries of the SSI program: their January money is to be sent out on December 31 – a day earlier than normal, as New Year\u2019s Day is a federal holiday.<\/p>\n

How does the Social Security Administration send out payments?<\/p>\n

The SSA says<\/a> it is \u201cin most cases\u201d no longer offering benefits recipients the option of being paid by paper check. Instead, the agency gives beneficiaries two ways of receiving their payments electronically:<\/p>\n

By supplying the SSA with their bank details, recipients can get their benefits by direct deposit. You can update your bank-account information on the agency\u2019s \u201cmy Social Security<\/a>\u201d online portal.<\/p>\n

Recipients can also have their benefits paid onto the Direct Express Card<\/a>, a special debit card for federal disbursements made to people who do not have a bank account.<\/p>\n

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Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more \u2013 plus, stay updated on the latest in current affairs and entertainment. Download now for all-access coverage<\/a>, right at your fingertips \u2013 anytime, anywhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday next week, the U.S.\u2019s Social Security Administration (SSA) is to send out benefits to millions of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[138,246,111,139,69,244,245],"class_list":{"0":"post-184001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}