Over 75 million Americans receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. A good number of beneficiaries use the monthly income just to get by amid higher living costs.
SSI is a monthly benefit scheme for Americans with limited income or resources who are 65 or older, blind, or have a qualifying disability. Even children with a qualifying disability can apply to receive monthly SSI payments. Note that you can apply for SSI online or in person at the local Social Security office.
According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the average retirement benefit in June stood at $2,029.92, while survivor benefits and disability insurance payouts stood at $1,631.39 and $1,496.16, respectively.
August Payments Come a Day Earlier This Year
The SSA has already issued July benefits to several groups of recipients at the beginning of the month, but many more had to wait for the SSA’s three-Wednesdays distribution cycle to kick in.
Regular SSI payments for July were sent on 1st July to 7.3 million beneficiaries. On 2nd July, the SSA disbursed benefits to people who started claiming them before May 1997. Beneficiaries who claim Social Security as well as SSI payouts have also received their July benefits on the same day. Note that dual and pre-May 1997 recipients get their Social Security on the third of each month, but were paid 24 hours ahead of schedule this time, as 3rd July was a federal holiday.
However, there won’t be any SSI payment made in August. This is because the benefits for August will be paid on 31st July this year, which is a day earlier than scheduled, given that 1st August is a weekend.
The SSA also disclosed the SSI payment schedule for the remainder of 2026. The September SSI payment will be sent on Tuesday, 1st September, and the next one on 1st October. However, the November SSI payments for 2026 will be sent on Friday, 30th October, given that the regular payment date falls later. For both December 2026 and January 2027, the SSI payments will be made on 1st December and 31st December, respectively.
Most Social Security recipients receive monthly payouts on the second, third, or fourth Wednesday in each month, depending on their birthday. People born between the 1st and 10th of the month receive their payment on the second Wednesday of the month. Those born between the 11th and 20th receive their payment on the third Wednesday of the month. People born after the 20th receive payouts on the fourth Wednesday.
Meanwhile, SSI beneficiaries could see significant changes to the SSI programme as politicians focus on relaxing decades-old rules. In March, a bipartisan group of 30 Washington, DC, lawmakers planned to reintroduce a bill, called the SSI Restoration Act, to overhaul the programme by expanding SSI benefits amid rising costs and sticky inflation, according to the bill’s sponsor, Senator Elizabeth Warren.
‘SSI is a critical lifeline for millions of Americans — but the programme is five decades out-of-date, leaving people behind and even punishing them for trying to save up,’ Warren had stated back then.
