A new month means a new batch of Social Security benefit payments, and the first payment for the month of November is scheduled to hit beneficiaries’ bank accounts today. The Social Security Administration (SSA) issues benefits to around 75 million vulnerable individuals across the country each month. The majority of benefits paid by the agency are the regular Social Security benefit, however, the SSA is also tasked with ensuring that the Supplemental Security Income payments are rolled out to recipients as well.
The Social Security benefit and the Supplemental Security Income benefit follow independent payment structures. The regular Social Security benefit is paid on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month, while the Supplemental Security Income is paid on either the first of the month or the last working day of the month before it is due.
On the SSA’s official benefit payment schedule, there is a payment marked on the 3rd of each month as well. This is the benefit payment for a very specific cohort of beneficiaries in the program. Here is what you need to know.
Benefit payments for November begin rolling out today
Social Security benefits are paid to recipients on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month. The precise date on which a recipient will receive their benefit is determined based on their date of birth. The SSA has likely structured its payment schedule this way due to the high volume of recipients that await payment each month. By sending out tens of millions of payments over the course of the month rather than on one single day, there is less room for error.
Before the agency begins rolling out its Wednesday payments to beneficiaries, there is another date allotted for payments on its schedule each month and that is the 3rd, which also happens to be today. The payment made on the third of each month is for regular Social Security benefits, however, it applies only to a specific cohort of beneficiaries.
If a beneficiary has been receiving Social Security benefits from before May of 1997, they will be paid their benefits on the third of the month, regardless of their birth date. This payment structure will also apply to beneficiaries who are receiving both the regular Social Security benefit, as well as the Supplemental Security Income. The Supplemental Security Income will still be paid on the first of the month for these beneficiaries.
It is, however, worth noting that the Supplemental Security Income for November had been paid to beneficiaries on October 31st. This payment was made early because the first of the month fell on a weekend, and so as to prevent any delays to beneficiaries, the SSA rolled out the payment on the last working day of the previous month.
November benefit payment schedule
Listed below is a complete breakdown of the payments beneficiaries can expect in November:
- Friday, October 31st — Supplemental Security Income for November
- Monday, November 3rd — Social Security for beneficiaries who had received Social Security before May 1997 or for those who receive both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income
- Wednesday, November 12th — recipients with birth dates between the 1st and 10th of their birth month.
- Wednesday, November 19th — recipients with birth dates between the 11th and 20th of their birth month.
- Wednesday, November 26th — recipients with birth dates between the 21st and 31st of their birth month.
Will the government shutdown delay payments?
The U.S. federal government has now been shutdown for a month, putting it on track to be the longest shutdown in history. Despite this, Social Security payments will continue to roll out as scheduled, as per the SSA. This is because the Social Security program is funded through mandatory spending and as such, it does not require Congressional approval on a yearly basis.