September ends today across the United States. This means that a new month begins and, therefore, a new round of payments from the Social Security Administration is on its way. And not only that, but we will also have in this coming month of October the COLA announcement.
Through this announcement, we will be able to know exactly the figure by which Social Security will increase its payments for next year 2023. Therefore, the payment of the checks will not be the only joy of this October 2022.
All payments related to retirement or Social Security benefits will take place in the second, third and fourth week of the month. This always happens, so you have to pay attention to know when is the exact day you will receive your retirement. The next payment is on October 12, although it is only for a small group of people.
Social Security in October
As we have previously mentioned, the Social Security Administration will send the payment of the retirement and disability benefit on October 12. This payment is not for all retirees and people with disabilities. Only those born between the 1st and 10th of the month will be able to receive their benefit on the same day. The rest of the pensioners will have to wait a little bit to receive their money.
The Wednesdays following this payment are those corresponding to other pensioners. Thus, on the third Wednesday of the month, the Social Security Administration will send the benefit to retirees born between the 11th and 20th of the month. On the other hand, the last payment of the month is for those born between the 21st and 31st of the month and the SSA sends it on the fourth Wednesday of the month.
Maximizing Social Security
To maximize your monthly Social Security payment, you need to have not already started collecting your benefit. If you have already started it with retirement and need more income per month, try to get extra money by selling things you don’t need, for example. If you have not yet started collecting your pension, you can follow these tips to maximize your Social Security benefit:
- Delay your retirement age. If you apply for retirement at age 62, you will receive 30% of the money you have contributed. On the other hand, the Full Retirement Age at age 67 grants 100% of what you contribute. Finally, retiring at age 70 means having a good benefit that can reach $4,194 per month.
- Work for many years. The minimum number of years worked to collect Social Security is 10 years. But the ideal is to work 35 years to be able to collect the highest possible benefit.
- Have a good salary. The final monthly amount of Social Security is based on the average of the highest salary in the 35 years worked. Therefore, a higher salary means a higher benefit.
With these guidelines, getting a larger Social Security benefit is really easy. Therefore, you have in your hand the possibility to get a big check and make so that every month you can collect a little extra money to live better.