Not all Social Security beneficiaries are paid on Wednesdays. A group of retirees and disability beneficiaries receives the money on the 3rd of each month, and their next deposit will arrive on Tuesday, November 3.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) keeps this date for two groups of beneficiaries, regardless of their birthday.
Who is paid on the 3rd of the month
- Beneficiaries since before May 1997 | those who started receiving Social Security before that date.
- SSI and Social Security recipients | those who receive both benefits at the same time, whenever they began.
- Beneficiaries whose state pays their Medicare premiums | and some people living outside the United States.
The SSA introduced the Wednesday calendar in 1997 to spread payments throughout the month. Those who were already receiving benefits kept the 3rd.
Why SSI recipients are paid twice a month
A person who receives SSI and Social Security gets the SSI payment on the 1st and the Social Security payment on the 3rd. In practice, this means two deposits in a few days. The SSI amount is reduced by the Social Security check after a $20 exclusion, as we explained in our article about receiving both benefits.
In November there will be an exception: the SSI payment arrives early, on October 30, so these recipients will only receive the Social Security deposit of November 3 during the month.
Next dates for this group
- Tuesday, November 3 | November payment.
- Thursday, December 3 | December payment.
- Thursday, December 31 | January 2027 payment, already with the 3.6% COLA.
This group will therefore be among the first to receive the increase, together with SSI recipients. The full calendar is in our articles on November payments and December payments.
