With each new month comes new benefit payments from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and for an agency to disburse such a lefty volume of checks on a monthly basis, a solidly structured schedule is required. The SSA disburses two kinds of benefits as per its official schedule: the regular Social Security benefits, and the Supplemental Security Income benefit.
The regular Social Security benefit is paid to retirees, survivors, and disabled individuals. These benefit checks are rolled out on Wednesdays throughout the month, depending on the date of birth of the recipient. The Supplemental Security Income, or SSI benefit, on the other hand, is typically paid on the first of each month. The SSA will, however, pay the SSI benefit early on occasion, and as a result, it sometimes appears as though a payment is being skipped on the schedule despite this not being the case. Here is what you need to know.
Double SSI payment in October
The Supplemental Security Income, of SSI benefit, is a type of welfare benefit paid to individuals who have little to no other resources or income, often due to becoming disabled. Benefit checks for SSI recipients are typically paid on the first of each month, and according to the SSA’s monthly statistical snapshot for August, there are currently around 7.4 million recipients of the Supplemental Security Income.
According to the SSA’s official payment schedule, October will have not one, but two SSI payments. The first of the two payments will have already reached recipients as of October 1st, and this is the SSI benefit for the month of October. The second payment will hit the bank accounts of recipients on October 31st, and no, this is not a bonus payment. The October 31st payment is the SSI benefit for the month of November being paid early.
This kind of scheduling fluctuation is a common occurrence with regards to SSI payments and the reason behind it is simple. SSI payments are typically rolled out on the first of the month, however, when the first of the month falls on a weekend or holiday, the SSA issues the SSI check on the nearest previous working day. This way, recipients do not have to face any delays regarding payment and can have their SSI benefit for the month as the month begins.
“When the first day of the month falls on the weekend or a federal holiday, you receive your SSI payment on the last business day before the first day of the month. That means you may get two SSI payments in the same month,” the SSA explained previously in a blog post. “We do this to avoid putting you at a financial disadvantage and make sure that you don’t have to wait beyond the first of the month to get your payment. It does not mean that you are receiving a duplicate payment in the previous month, so you do not need to contact us to report the second payment.”
October payment schedule
The SSA pays the regular Social Security benefit to recipients on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month, and this schedule does not tend to face any fluctuations like the SSI benefit schedule. On the upcoming Wednesday which is October 22nd, the final batch of Social Security recipients will receive their benefits for the month.
A complete outline of all benefit payments for the current month of October is listed below:
- 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