The Social Security payment calendar for retirees continues as expected in August, with the next payments scheduled to begin Wednesday, August 21, for those who retired after May 1997. The amount each beneficiary receives is determined by several factors, but one of the most important is the age at which they choose to retire.
To ensure that payments are made smoothly and without problems, the Social Security Administration (SSA) divides retirement benefits into two different categories. The first is for those who retired before May 1997, and the second is for those who began receiving payments after that date. Typically, these first beneficiaries receive their payments on the third day of each month.
For those who retired after May 1997, payments are distributed in three separate rounds based on the retiree’s date of birth. Again, this is to ensure that all payments are processed smoothly and distributed on time and without problems. This way, if one of the payments were to fail for any reason, only a small group of retirees would be affected instead of the whole system collapsing.
If something did go wrong, SSA would have plenty of time to fix it before the next round of payments was due. Given this information, there is only one group that will receive their payments on August 21, and that is specifically retirees born between the 11th and 20th of any month who are scheduled to receive their checks this week. The other remaining round of payments will be on August 28 for those born between the 21st and 31st.
Distribution of Social Security payments
These dates correspond to the second, third, and fourth Wednesdays of the month, and while this month’s schedule does not deviate from the theoretical calendar, there are months when the dates are not so clear-cut.
If the payment distribution dates coincide with a weekend (the third of the month can fall on any day of the week) or a national holiday when banks are closed, payments are rescheduled to be distributed on the previous day that banks are open. This ensures that benefits are always received on time and that beneficiaries experience as little inconvenience as possible.
Keep in mind that distributing checks is only part of SSA’s responsibility. Those who receive their checks by mail are dependent on the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and may receive their checks late due to weather conditions or unexpected emergencies.
Those who receive their checks directly into a bank account must take into account their bank’s processing times and policies, so if your check is late every month, it may be worth contacting the bank directly to see if there is anything you can do to speed up the processing time.
Finally, just as the date on which you receive your benefits varies, so does the amount on each Social Security check, depending on the age at which the retiree began receiving benefits and the contributions they made to the program while they were still working.
For those who retired at age 62, the maximum monthly payment in 2024 will be $2,710. Individuals who retired at age 67 can receive up to $3,822 per month, while those who waited until the maximum retirement age of 70 can receive a maximum of $4,873 per month, the highest benefit distributed.