Tomorrow is the second Wednesday of the month, which means that the first of three major batches of Social Security beneficiaries will be receiving their benefits for October. The Social Security program provides benefits to some 74 million vulnerable individuals across the country, many of whom rely on these check to cover their monthly living expenses at least in some capacity. The sheer volume of recipients is likely the reason behind the agency’s decision to break up its payments over the course of the month rather than trying to roll out tens of millions of checks in one go.
For recipients of the regular Social Security benefit, checks are sent out on Wednesdays throughout the month, while recipients of the Supplemental Security Income receive their checks on the first of each month. The good news for existing beneficiaries of the Social Security program is that benefits will continue to be paid out by the SSA without any delays despite the current ongoing federal government shutdown. Here is everything you need to know.
October benefits are en route
The SSA sends out payments for Social Security benefits on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month. The date on which you receive your benefit is determined based on your date of birth. The payment schedule is broken down as follows:
- Second Wednesday — recipients with birth dates from the 1st to the 10th of their respective birth month
- Third Wednesday — recipients with birth dates from the 11th to the 20th of their respective birth month
- Fourth Wednesday — recipients with birth dates from the 21st to the 31st of their respective birth month
Since tomorrow, October 8th, is the second Wednesday of the month, beneficiaries with birth dates from the 1st to the 10th of their respective birth month can expect to see their October benefit hit their bank accounts soon. The agency does, however, note that “if you don’t receive your payment on the expected date, please allow three additional mailing days before contacting Social Security.”
SSI payments are generally sent out on the first of the month, so SSI beneficiaries will have already received their benefit for October. There will, however, be a second SSI payment at the end of October, and this is the SSI for November that is being paid early.
Complete October payment schedule
- October 1st — SSI benefit for October
- October 3rd — Social Security benefit for recipients who also receive the SSI beenfit
- October 8th, second Wednesday — Social Security benefit for recipients with birth dates from the 1st to the 10th of their respective birth month
- October 15th, third Wednesday — Social Security benefit for recipients with birth dates from the 11th to the 20th of their respective birth month
- October 22nd, fourth Wednesday — Social Security benefit for recipients with birth dates from the 21st to the 31st of their respective birth month
- October 31st — SSI benefit for November
Government shutdown
The U.S. federal government has been shutdown as of October 1st following a deadlock regarding the healthcare spending bill, with halted operations and staff being furloughed at many federal agencies. Since the Social Security program is funded by mandatory spending and not discretionary spending, benefits will continue to be rolled out uninterrupted.
In an October 1st update, the SSA also confirmed that hearing offices and local offices will still remain open, however, only a limited number of services will be provided. Whilst benefits will continue to be paid without delays, the highly anticipated COLA announcement will be delayed until the shutdown ends. The COLA is an increase implemented to benefits in order to curb the effects of year over year inflation. The SSA calculates this using the CPI-W for July, August, and September, as released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Due to the furloughing of almost all staff at the BLS, all data collection has ceased and as such, the COLA announcement will have to be delayed until the BLS releases the September data required for the COLA calculation. The data was previously scheduled to be released on the morning of October 15th, with the SSA making the official COLA announcement later that day.