The Social Security Administration (SSA) will be distributing another three rounds of payments for beneficiaries on these dates this month, with some expecting up to $5,108. The SSA is responsible for the handling and distribution of payments for approximately 75 million beneficiaries, with the large majority of these benefits paid out to retirees. For many, these payments are the only source of income, making it crucial for the SSA to adhere to a timely payment schedule. Check now to see when yours will be paid out this month.
The SSA is responsible for 75 million beneficiaries
There are three types of payments the SSA distributes every month: Retirement, Disability, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). While Retirement payments make up the majority of benefits, some retirees receive Disability or SSI on top of their Retirement payments. Unlike Retirement benefits, Disability and SSI eligibility are largely based on your income, as these payments are reserved for those who are economically vulnerable, and in the case of Disability, for those who are unable to earn an income due to a physical disability. SSI, on the other hand, is for those who have access to very little or no income and/or resources.
Retirement benefits, however, are paid out to you regardless of alternative sources of income you have. In fact, the SSA encourages beneficiaries to ensure that they have a robust retirement plan that includes multiple sources of income in order to alleviate financial strain during this period of their life. The amount you receive in Retirement benefits is dependent on the amount you contributed towards SSA taxes, as well as the number of years you did so. For this year, the maximum Retirement beneficiaries could receive from the SSA amounted to $5,108. In order to be eligible to receive this, you must have met the following critiera:
- You must have earned an income for at least 35 years.
- You must have earned the maximum SSA taxable earnings for all 35 income-earning years.
- You must have delayed claiming your benefits until you are 70 years old.
The SSA sends out payments on these three dates
According to the SSA official payment schedule, beneficiaries can expect to have their benefits paid out on the following dates for this month:
- November 12: Beneficiaries with a birthdate between the first and tenth of any given month.
- November 19: Beneficiaries with a birthdate between the 11th and 20th of any given month.
- November 26: Beneficiaries with a birthdate between the 21st and 31st of any given month.
However, SSI benefits have already been distributed for the month, with this year’s November SSI payments paid out on October 31st. Generally, SSI is paid on the first of every month; however, this year’s November payments were advanced due to November 1 falling on a weekend. If you are a beneficiary who receives both SSI and Retirement benefits, your Retirement benefits would have been distributed on November 3rd.
New changes for 2026 SSA beneficiaries
This year, important announcements were made regarding changes the SSA will be implementing for 2026 and onwards. In September of this year, the SSA announced that it would no longer be distributing paper checks to beneficiaries and would instead only be sending out payments through direct deposit. However, there are exceptions to this change, with certain beneficiaries still eligible to receive paper checks.
For next year’s payments, SSA benefits will be raised by 2.8% thanks to the new cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) statistic. COLA is applied every year to benefits to ensure that they retain the same buying power year on year despite inflation. However, beneficiaries argue that COLA is not the most accurate measure to determine by how much SSA benefits should be raised by seeing since it is based on the spending habits of income earners and not retirees.
Disclaimer: This content is informational only and does not supersede or replace the SSA’s or IRS’s own publications and notices. Always verify any specific dates and amounts by following the direct links in our article to SSA.gov or IRS.gov, or by consulting your local SSA field office or tax professional.
