The Social Security program provides millions upon millions of Americans with a stable income each month, allowing this cohort to rest easy knowing that their monthly expenses will be covered during the more vulnerable time of their lives.
Social Security is an insurance program run by the Social Security Administration (SSA) who oversees the roll out of benefit payments.
The two factors that place the most weight on how much a beneficiary will receive monthly are the age at which they begin claiming, and the income earned during their 35 highest earning years and as a result, benefit amounts will differ from person to person.
Additionally, the date on which a beneficiary receives their benefit is determined in relation to their date of birth. As such, here is what you need to know about the benefit payment schedule for August and why it seems like there is a missing payment.
Social Security benefit payments for August
The Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments contains payment dates for both the regular Social Security benefit as well as the Supplementary Security Income benefit for the entire year.
This official payment schedule can be found on the Social Security Administration’s website and there are currently some 72 million beneficiaries who are reliant on these monthly benefits to cover all, or at least some, of their expenses.
The Supplemental Security Income benefit payments are generally paid on the first of each month, however, if the first of the month falls on a non-working day (such as a holiday or the weekend), the payment is brought forward to the last working day of the previous month.
This is done to ensure that there are no delays in payment for the recipients thereby allowing them access to their benefits as the month begins. These adjusted dates are clearly marked on the official schedule as well, meaning that beneficiaries need not take any action if the first of the month falls on a non-working day.
The regular Social Security benefits, on the other hand, are rolled out on Wednesdays throughout the month, each month. In particular, these benefit payments are made on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of the month in relation to the date of birth of the recipient.
For the current month of August, a quick glance at the schedule may make it seem as though there is no payment scheduled for the second week of the month. This, however, does not mean that a third of beneficiaries will be missing out on their benefit for the month.
Since the first of August fell on a Friday, the second Wednesday of the month will actually fall in the third week of the month, and as a result, it seems like a week of payments is being missed despite this not being the case. All benefit payments for August will still roll out on the same schedule as other months. As such, the Social Security benefits for this August will be paid on the following dates:
- Second Wednesday, August 13th – recipients with birth dates from the 1st of the month to the 10th
- Third Wednesday, August 20th – recipients with birth dates from the 11th of the month to the 20th
- Fourth Wednesday, August 27th – recipients with birth dates from the 21st of the month to the 31st
SSA clawbacks begin in August
In April, the SSA announced that a 50% withholding rate will be going into full effect for beneficiaries who had been overpaid and notices informing the affected beneficiaries were sent out on April 25th.
Following the notice, there had been a 90 day period during which the recipient could either file a waiver, request a reconsideration, or negotiate a lower rate of withholding.
The 90 day window came to a close as of July 24th meaning that all benefit payments going forward from August will be subject to the 50% withholding rate if the beneficiary had not taken action against it.