The reason why retirees won’t receive SSI payments in June: goodbye to the $943

Social security payments need to be delivered to beneficiaries on time. For most of the recipients, these benefits constitute their sole source of income and are dependent on it to stay afloat. It is even more dire for those who are in more disadvantaged positions and receive on top of regular Social Security payments, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments to help them make ends meet.

This is why in months like June when the 1st of the months falls on a Saturday mark an important date on the calendar, as the whole system is reworked to ensure that there is no late payments that can affect beneficiaries.

Why is the 1st of the month an important date? Well, it is because those receiving Social Security payments since before May 1997, retirees claiming benefits while living outside the U.S. and SSI recipients all receive their checks on this date every single month. However, problems arise when it falls on a Saturday or national holiday because it prevents the funds from being available in the bank accounts (the banks do not open on Saturday, and not even the rise of online banking has helped solved this problem). To solve this problem, benefits are scheduled to be delivered on the previous day that the bank is operational, in this case, Friday 31 of May. The perception for some users is that they have gotten two checks in the same month, but in reality is just that the following month’s benefits are hitting their accounts early, a problem that the SSA spends some time dispelling every time this happens.

The importance of receiving SSI benefits on time

In a 2022 blog post, the Social Security Administration cleared up the reasons why they feel this is important for their beneficiaries “We do this to avoid putting you at a financial disadvantage and make sure that you don’t have to wait beyond the first of the month to get your payment. It does not mean that you are receiving a duplicate payment in the previous month, so you do not need to contact us to report the second payment.”

These SSI benefits can not be overstated enough, as they provide extra help to those over 65 with extremely low resources, those with disabilities, surviving family members of deceased claimants, and others under 65 that have lasting physical or mental disabilities. All of these vulnerable collectives cannot afford late payment fines that could be the result from getting their benefits late. And although they don’t all receive the same amount, the money they receive has been allocated to them for a reason.

The maximum amount allocated to individuals is $943 per month, rising to $1,415 for couples, which, when combined with regular Social Security payments can help improve the lives of its recipients vastly. However, most people do not receive these maximum payments. The average SSI payment is $698 per month which is still a significant amount for struggling families.

The rest of the Social Security recipients that have their payments scheduled for the 1st would receive significantly more, up to $4,873, and depending on where they live this amount is significant.

Other key benefits like the Regular Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) payments will not be affected by this change of dates, although those scheduled for the 3rd Wednesday of the month of June, the 19th will also be rescheduled. Not because of a weekend problem, but because Juneteenth is also a federal holiday observed by the banks and this has the same issue. In this case, benefits will be transferred to the 18 of June, a Tuesday.

If ever in doubt, consulting the SSA’s schedule of payments available on their website is the way to go.