No matter what state in the United States an american citizen lives in, he or she is sure to have heard of Social Security. In fact, not only have you heard of it, but you may very well have your Social Security card with your Social Security number assigned to it. These numbers are very useful for the future, plus they are unique and non-transferable.
With this in mind, we should keep in mind that the Social Security system helps the people of the United States a great deal. Having a number is not useless, on the contrary. Thanks to this number we will be able to have a good retirement in the future and thus rest in some well-deserved golden years.
The number of people who receive a check from the Social Security Administration every month is enormous. As of today, nearly 70 million U.S. citizens receive some type of benefit from the SSA. And this includes both disabled users and old age retirees. If we talk about statistics, 33% of the income in retired adults comes from Social Security.
In total, 9 out of 10 retirees over the age of 65 receive a monthly check from the Administration. And a large part of them have no other source of income, even though this is not advisable. So we can say that SSA benefits are really important for all American citizens.
Who can apply for a Social Security check?
In order to be able to receive a Social Security retirement benefit check there are two possible ways. On the one hand, we have the disability benefit. On the other, we have the age retirement check. There are more types of checks, but these two are the most common.
- Each of these benefits has its specific requirements. For example, in the case of the age benefit, a U.S. citizen must meet two conditions:
- Be age 62 or older.
- Have worked for at least 10 years.
As for disability, the conditions change and are more individual than in the case of retirement by age. To find out whether we have access to one benefit or another, we can use Best Tool. Through this application we will know in a few minutes if we can apply for one of the benefits.
In addition, we can also use My Social Security. With My Account from the SSA we will have access to total control over our retirement-related information. This way, we will be able to know if we are ready to receive a check from Social Security and how much the payment will be.
What types of SSA benefits are there?
The retirement benefit is not the only check the government sends out each month. In addition to this payment, there is a different payment for a different group of citizens. The neediest Americans will also receive what is called Supplemental Security Income.
This other payment supplements the Social Security check so that we can get up to $914 more per month. The final amount depends on the individual’s personal situation.
When do retirees receive their benefits?
Social Security checks arrive to retirees on three different days. The first of these days is the second Wednesday of the month. After that, the SSA sends another payment on the third Wednesday of the month. Finally, the fourth Wednesday of the month is the day chosen to send the last check to retirees.
On each of these days, which are always on a Wednesday, retirees from different groups receive their money. A retiree may not cash more than one pension check per month, with some exceptions. The groups are made up as follows:
- 2nd Wednesday of the month. Retirees born between the 1st and the 10th receive their check.
- 3rd Wednesday of the month. This is the day on which retirees with a benefit who were born between the 11th and 20th receive their money.
- 4th Wednesday of the month. The Social Security amount arrives on this day to retirees born between the 21st and 31st of the month.
The Supplemental Security Income date must be added to this payment. The Social Security Administration pays this extra benefit on the 1st of each month. Although this is usually the case, some months there may be a slight change. When the 1st of the month is a weekend or holiday, SSA pays the SSI payment on the immediately preceding business day.
What is the maximum Social Security check?
The maximum check in 2023 is $4,555. The maximum Social Security amount changes every year based on the COLA. This change increases depending on inflation in market prices.
So each year the figure will increase a little, although there is no exact rule to determine what the increase will be each year. Experts are talking about the COLA of 2024, although it is still too early to even make an estimate.
The only thing we do know for sure is that there will be an increase, albeit a small one. Even so, millions of retirees who collect only their Social Security check do not see this increase as sufficient, since it takes into account the previous year’s inflation.