Every month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is responsible for the distribution of millions of payments to their approximate 70 million beneficiaries. While the majority of these beneficiaries receive retirement benefits from the SSA, other receive Supplementary Security Income (SSI) from the Administration as well as Disability benefits. Very soon, certain qualifying beneficiaries will be able to collect up to $5,108 from the SSA.

The difference between the SSA fund

While the SSA is most well known for their retirement benefits program, the Administration is also responsible for the distribution of benefits from the SSI and Disability program. Retirement benefits form the SSA are made according to the number of years to which you paid SSA taxes on your income. These benefits are not dependent on any other source of income you may receive in your retirement and are paid out regardless.

However, SSI and Disability eligibility is dependent on your income sources. SSI is reserved for those individuals who have very little to no income or resources while Disability is for those who are unable to earn an income due to having a disability. If, however, you experience changes to your income state, you may not qualify anymore to receive these payments.

Who will collect $5,108 from the SSA?

The average retiree receives approximately $2,000 from the SSA in retirement benefits every month. Payment dates are arranged according to when your birthdate is, whether or not you receive benefits form more than one SSA fund, and when you first claimed your benefits. For retirees, the general payment schedule relevant for you to take note of set by the SSA is as follows:

The second Wednesday of the month: Birth dates between the first and the 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.

As such, according to the Social Security payment schedule, the next payment date for retirement beneficiaries will be tomorrow, Wednesday, August 27 for those beneficiaries who are born between the 21st and 31st of the month. However, some of these beneficiaries may qualify to receive up to $5,108 form the SSA. 

To receive the maximum Social Security payment of $5,108, you have to ensure that you meet a variety of eligibility criteria. The most important of these is that you chose to delay claiming your retirement benefits until you reached 70 years old. While you are allowed to claim your benefits from the SSA as early as 62 years old, you can only receive the maximum payment form the SSA if you waited to claim until this age. 

Who has a different SSA payment date?

While most SSA recipients adhere to the general payment schedule, there are payment date differences for certain beneficiaries. If you are an SSI-only recipient, you collect your benefits on the first of every month regardless of when your birthdate is. If you receive both SSI and retirement benefits from the SSA, you are paid out on the third of the month. Additionally, beneficiaries who claimed their benefits from the SSA before May 1997 are also always paid on the third of every month.

This month, SSI-only beneficiaries will be receiving an additional payment from the SSA. This is because the scheduled September 1 payment date for next week is a holiday, Labor Day. While the SSA rarely deviates from their planned payment dates, payment dates will be advanced if the anticipated date falls on a weekend or holiday. This means that SSI-only beneficiaries will not be paid in September, and instead their September payment will be advanced to August 29.

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.