Social Security retirement benefits will be paid to millions of recipients this week. The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides monthly retirement, survivor, and disability benefits, paying out more than $1 trillion every year. Most recipients receive their payments as a single monthly lump sum.
Retirement benefits are distributed at different times throughout the month, based on the recipient’s birth date and the length of time they’ve been receiving payments. Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which provides financial assistance to elderly, blind, or disabled individuals with limited income and resources, is usually paid at the beginning of each month. This week, those born between the 21st and 31st of any given month will get their monthly benefit on Wednesday.
This payment date does not apply to beneficiaries who have been claiming since before May 1997, as they are routinely paid at the beginning of every month. Recipients with birthdays on the 21st of any given month should have already received their check, as well as anyone who collects disability benefits. The schedule of payment dates for April 2025 are as follows:
April 1: Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries.
April 3: Payments to those who have been collecting retirement benefits since before May 1997, and retirees who also collect SSI benefits. April 10: Benefits for those born between the 1st and 10th of any month. April 17: Benefits for those born between the 11th and 20th.
April 23: Benefits for those born between the 21st and 31st. The SSA says recipients should wait three working days before contacting the government agency if a payment hasn’t arrived as expected.
Social Security payment schedule explained
Federal holidays and weekends are not working days. The amount of retirement benefits you qualify for depends on the age at which you begin collecting them. In 2025, if you retire at the full retirement age of 67, the maximum monthly benefit is $4,018.
Choosing to retire early at age 62 reduces the benefit to $2,831 per month, while delaying retirement until age 70 can increase it to as much as $5,108. These figures represent the maximum benefits payable, but the actual amount you receive may vary based on your lifetime earnings and the number of years you’ve contributed to Social Security through taxes. In January 2025, the average retirement payment was $1,976.
For SSI, the monthly benefit varies depending on factors like your income, the nature of your disability, and the number of people in your household. In 2025, the maximum SSI payment is $967 per month for an individual and $1,450 for a couple. Aliss Higham is a Newsweek reporter based in Glasgow, Scotland.
Her focus is on reporting Social Security, other government benefits, and personal finance. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the British Royal Family. Aliss joined Newsweek full time in January 2024 after a year of freelance reporting and has previously worked at The Express and The Mirror.
She graduated in English and Creative Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London. For more information and any updates, stay tuned to Newsweek.
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