The economic impact payments were issued to Social Security recipients and other federal aid beneficiaries even though they did not have to file returns. Many federal beneficiaries who filed their 2019 and 2020 returns or used the Non-Filers tool received stimulus checks.
The updates also applied to Social Security survivor, retirement, and disability (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) beneficiaries. Most Social Security retirement and disability beneficiaries, railroad retirees, and recipients of veteran benefits were eligible for the stimulus checks and did not have to take any action for it.
With limited payments and no scope for additional income, these retirees and disabled citizens are dependent on federal funds to sustain themselves.
The high inflation has thrown them in a quandary as their monthly benefit checks are not sufficient to keep up with the rise in prices that have affected everything from groceries to gasoline. It has also meant a rise in rent and mortgage rates, higher credit card payments, and bigger utility bills.
A second Social Security payment is coming from the SSA scheduled for October 2022 which will come in as expected. Recipients who qualify for the SSI will not get their stimulus check due to an oddity in the payment schedule.
The reason for this fluke is that Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries were paid twice with stimulus checks in September, and will not get any in October.
Other Social Security recipients will however receive their October stimulus checks within the normal schedule.
The October Social Security Stimulus Checks
The October payments have already been distributed. Those with their birthday within the 10th of the month received their stimulus check by the 12th of the month. And those who have their birthday between the eleventh and the twentieth of the month will receive their stimulus check on October 19. People will birthday between the twenty-first and the thirty-first of the month will get their payment on October 26.
The benefit for October works out to an average of $1,657 after adjusting the inflation rate for this year. The cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) has seen a strong increase on the back of high inflation rates and has touched 8.7%. That will result in an increase of $1,800 per month for 2023.
Figures for Social Security payments could increase up to $2,112 per month by 2030. This will have if COLA sticks to the same trend that it has been maintaining since 2001.
The Social Security average payment then was at an average of $874. For people who do not receive their payment as scheduled, the Social Security Administration will be offered the option of contacting the authorities after the passage of three working days.
The Social Security Payment Schedule For 2023
When it comes to taking stock of your life after retirement, you must keep abreast of the annual Social Security adjustments and manage your budget in line with these tweaks.
Some key takeaways of the Social Security benefit payments schedule, in 2023 have some important points.
50% of all older citizens reside in homes where half the income comes from Social Security benefits. And a quarter of citizens depend on their monthly payment for most or even all of their earnings.
Beneficiaries who have received their benefits before May 1997 will have their payments sent on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.
Starting from January next year, around 64 M Americans will receive an 8.7% cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) to their Social Security benefits that include survivor, disability, and retirement benefits.
COLA will also affect Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. This has emerged as the largest cost of living adjustment since 1981 when 11.2% relief was declared. The largest on record was 14.% in 1980.
The cost-of-living-adjustment of 2023 will increase the full sum of the benefits to $1,827 a month for individual retirees and $2,972 for couples each month. Disabled workers with a spouse and children will have their benefits increased to $2,616 a month. For widows and widowers, the increase comes to an average of $1,704 a month. Widowed mothers with at least two children will receive a much larger $3.520 a month on average.
Other major changes in the offing include an increase to $160,200 of the maximum earnings that are subject to tax under Social Security. The earning limits for beneficiaries still under employment and are younger than their full retirement age increase to $21,240, while the earning limit for beneficiaries who reach the full retirement age goes up to $56,520 in 2023.
The Social Security beneficiaries have seen an 8.7% increase in their monthly stimulus checks this year, and it will be the largest rise in 40 years. It is something done every year.
Stimulus Checks help citizens keep up with inflation, which has seen breaking a four-decade record recently and remains to hover near its peak rate of 9.1% reached in June 2022.
But critics say that the cost-of-living-adjustment does not present the true picture of what Americans are spending. The inflation that they are feeling is way higher. Another issue is that the beneficiaries get identical raises regardless of their place of residence or how big their savings are.
Around 65 M beneficiaries of Social Security can expect an increase. The average recipient will get over $140 more each month starting January, as estimated by the Social Security Administration.
As mentioned, beneficiaries will not have to take any extra steps t claim the amount. The increase in benefits is expected to be the biggest one in 4 decades.
Cases Where Default Payment Schedule Not Followed
There are exceptions to the Stimulus Check payment schedule and Social Security payments happen on a different schedule. The exception includes payments to spouses or children who benefit from a different person’s record will be paid on the day as that of the primary beneficiary.
Benefits to individuals who also receive SSI due to disability, blindness, or age, are paid on the first day of the month. Beneficiaries whose payment date falls on federal holidays or weekends will get their payments on working days before the holiday or weekends.
