Throughout each month the Social Security Administration in the United States sends different checks to eligible beneficiaries. Within those checks there are different categories, so we must pay attention to which of those payments we can get each month.
The main categories are the retirement check and the Supplemental Security Income check. Each of these checks is completely individual, so it is possible that we can receive one payment without receiving the other. In other words, you do not have to be retired to get a SSI check.
However, we can get both checks in the same month. There may even be the irregularity of getting an extra check, which is precisely what happens this December. Social Security recipients who meet certain requirements will get up to $943 extra in the last month of the year.
Therefore, you should check the eligibility list to see if you will soon be getting one of the new checks or if you will not have that extra money in December. How do we collect the extra Social Security payment?
HOW CAN WE GET THE EXTRA $943 IN DECEMBER SOCIAL SECURITY?
Before we ask ourselves how we can get this extra Social Security payment we should check to see if we are eligible for the general checks for this type of benefit on our own. This benefit is Supplemental Security Income, so we must be eligible to get SSI on a regular basis.
Only United States citizens who are 65 years of age or older or have a disability can have access to this monthly check. Likewise, it is also mandatory to have low resources and low monthly income. If we do not meet these requirements it will be impossible to have this monthly check.
In the case of having it accepted we must comply with another requirement to obtain the payment in December. This other requirement is to activate the fastest collection method. This cashing method is none other than Direct Deposit. Thanks to this method we will be able to get all the Social Security checks immediately without having to wait a single day.
WHY DOES THE LAST SSI FOR 2023 HAVE A HIGHER AMOUNT?
The main reason the last of the 2023 Social Security checks is larger is because it is not actually part of the 2023 payment schedule. This Supplemental Security Income check is the January 2024 payment, so it has next year’s COLA added to it.
So we are looking at a check for $943 maximum as opposed to the $914 we have gotten for the entire year of 2023. But it is good to remember that if we do not activate Direct Deposit we cannot get the payment early. This makes the payment appear in our pocket sooner, but in the case of not having it activated we will have to wait a few more days.
Retirees with a Social Security and Supplemental Security Income check can get up to 3 checks in December if they activate Direct Deposit. So this month can be very good for them if they meet all the requirements.