Although the Social Security Administration follows a schedule for sending payments to United States retirees, sometimes we may not get a check on time. If we find ourselves in such a situation, the first thing to do is to claim the payment as soon as possible.
However, there are several steps to take before claiming the payment from the Social Security Administration. We cannot go immediately to the Administration if we do not have a check available one day after the benefits are sent.
Even so, it is true that we have direct mechanisms to be able to know the day of the Social Security collection. If we control all the information available to us, we will be able to organize all our retirement money in the most efficient way possible.
This is really important for thousands of retirees who only collect Social Security. And the fact is that for those over 65, 9 out of 10 collect the retirement benefit and a large percentage of them have no other income. So find out how to claim your back payment in case you don’t get it on time.
How do I claim my back Social Security payment?
In order to do this we first have to make sure that the payment sent by Social Security is for us. To do this, we must be familiar with the monthly payment schedule.
For this purpose, we have to keep in mind that there are four different payments during the month. The first payment is for pre-1997 retirees and is sent on the 3rd day of the month. If that day is a holiday or weekend, the Administration sends the payment on the immediately preceding business day.
For post-1997 retirees, the payment arrives on the second, third and fourth Wednesday of the month. The birthday determines whether the payment arrives earlier or later. Retirees born between the 1st and 10th are paid on the second Wednesday. Americans born between the 11th and 20th get Social Security on the third Wednesday. The fourth Wednesday is for retirees with birthdays between the 21st and 31st of the month.
Knowing this we should also keep in mind that if we do not activate Direct Deposit, the money will arrive a little later. For that reason, claiming the payment may be hasty if we do not know the schedule well.
In the event that the Social Security money does not arrive on time, we must first contact the bank. The bank can withhold the money. Only when the bank is unable to help us should we contact the Administration. This is the last step and they should help us to solve the problems with the retirement delay.