Millions of Americans are set to receive their Social Security payments this week.
Why It Matters
About 70 million Americans rely on the Social Security Administration (SSA) for monthly income through retirement or disability benefits. Given the program’s size, payments are distributed throughout the month rather than all at once.
What To Know
On Wednesday, Social Security payments are set to be issued to recipients whose birthdays fall on or between the 1st and 10th of any given month.
If a payment does not arrive on its scheduled date, recipients should wait three business days before contacting the SSA. Weekends and federal holidays do not count as business days.
Further payments in October are scheduled to arrive on these dates:
October 15: Benefits for those born between the 11th and 20th.
October 22: Benefits for those with birthdays between the 21st and 31st.
How Much Is Social Security?
The amount each beneficiary receives depends on their lifetime earnings and how many years they contributed to Social Security through payroll taxes.
As of July, the average monthly retirement benefit is about $2,006.69. The maximum benefit varies by retirement age. Those claiming at 62 may receive up to $2,831 per month, while those who wait until the full retirement age of 67 may receive $4,018. This rises to $5,108 for those who retire at 70.
Social Security Boost
Benefit recipients are expected to find out this month whether, and by how much, their payments will increase next year.
The SSA calculates the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which measures inflation based on the spending habits of working-age households rather than retirees.
Since 1975, the SSA has relied on CPI-W data from July through September to decide whether benefits should rise to keep pace with the cost of essentials—such as housing, food and health care.
The 2026 COLA would apply to all SSA programs—including retirement, spousal, survivor and Supplemental Security Income—with any increase reflected in payments beginning in January. The Senior Citizens League has forecast a 2.7 percent increase.
Government Shutdown
Social Security payments are expected to continue to be paid as normal amid the ongoing government shutdown.
This is because the program is funded separately from the annual budget process. Social Security is considered mandatory spending and is financed primarily through payroll taxes collected under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. These taxes go into two dedicated trust funds—the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund—which provide the money for monthly benefit payments. As a result, the SSA can keep sending payments even when Congress has not passed a new budget.