The Social Security Administration (SSA) is tasked with ensuring that the millions of vulnerable Americans who are reliant on the income from this benefit program are paid what they are due on a monthly basis. According to the agency’s monthly statistical snapshot for June 2025, there are currently around 70 million recipients of Social Security benefits, including retirees, disabled individuals, or survivors.
The monthly Social Security benefit is paid to recipients on Wednesdays throughout the month. In particular, payments roll out on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month depending on the date of birth of the recipient. Two of the three payment dates for the current month of July have already gone by. The remaining one-third of beneficiaries will receive their benefit checks for July this upcoming Wednesday. Here is what you need to know.
Social Security benefit checks for July
Social Security benefits provide an array of vulnerable individuals with a stable monthly income. For many of these individuals, their monthly benefit checks function as the primary source of income without which they may not be able to cover their regular living expenses. For this reason, it is important for these households that the monthly benefit payments roll out uninterrupted. As such, the Social Security Administration (SSA) uploads its Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments for the full year well in advance. This way, beneficiaries are able to know precisely when to expect their benefit payments and as a result, they can plan their weekly or monthly budgets accordingly.
As noted above, Social Security benefits are paid on Wednesdays throughout the month in relation to the date of birth of the recipient. As such, payments are for July will be rolled out as follows as per the SSA’s official schedule which can be found on the agency’s website:
- Second Wednesday, July 9th – recipients with birth dates from the 1st of the month to the 10th
- Third Wednesday, July 16th – recipients with birth dates from the 11th of the month to the 20th
- Fourth Wednesday, July 23rd – recipients with birth dates from the 21st of the month to the 31st
The SSA does also note that, “if you don’t receive your payment on the expected date, please allow three additional mailing days before contacting Social Security.” Additionally, payment dates may differ for beneficiaries who also receive the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) in addition to the regular Social Security benefit, or those who have been receiving Social Security benefits prior to May 1997. For these individuals, the schedule notes that, “if you received Social Security before May 1997 or if receiving both Social Security & SSI, Social Security is paid on the 3rd and SSI on the 1st.”
SSA begins clawbacks on overpaid benefits
An overpayment of benefits can occur due to a miscalculation at the SSA or failure to report any income changes from the beneficiary. Subsequently, on April 25th, notices of overpayment were sent to the impacted beneficiaries and following this, the recipient has a 90 day window to either submit a waiver of repayment if they believed that they had not been overpaid or if repaying the debt would result in severe financial strain. Alternatively, the recipient could also negotiate a lower rate of withholding.
The rate of withholding is 50% of the benefit, and following the 90 day period starting on April 25th, this withholding rate will come into effect for those with an overpayment balance (if they had not submitted a waiver or requested a lower withholding rate). This means that for many beneficiaries, the July 23rd benefit check could very well be the last full benefit check they receive since the 90 day period for action against clawbacks comes to an end on July 24th. As such, the benefits for August will likely be first to be impacted by the SSA’s 50% withholding rate.