The SSA (Social Security Administration) releases it schedule of social security payments each year. For 2017, the new schedule includes the payment dates that people can expect, which are tied to their date of birth, to how long they have been in receipt of payments, and whether they also receive SSI (Supplemental Security Income).
The Schedule of Social Security Payments for 2017:
The majority of people who receive benefits will be paid on one of three dates, which is tied to their date of birth. The exception is for those who first received their benefits before May 1997. For all others, the schedule of social security payments is as follows:
1. Payment on the second Wednesday of each month if your date of birth is between the first and 10th of the month.
2. Payment on the third Wednesday of each month, if your date of birth is between the 11th and the 20th of the month.
3. Payment on the fourth Wednesday of each month, if your date of birth is between the 21st and the 31st.
What is important to understand from this is that, due to the fact that the payments are not on the same date of every month, it is possible that there is a relatively long period of time between two payments. For instance, between November and December, there will be a month plus one day between each payment. You must remember this for your budget planning.
Benefits Before May 1997:
For those who started to receive their benefits before May 1997, the above dates do not apply. Instead, you will receive your benefits on the third day of every month. If this happens to be a weekend, then you will receive your payment on the Friday before. So for instance, your Sunday, September 3, 2017 payment will be received on Friday, September 1, 2017 instead.
The same schedule applies to those who receive both SSI and social security retirement benefits.
Schedule for SSI Recipients:
If you only receive SSI and no other types of benefits, then you will receive payment on the first day of every month. Again, should that fall on a weekend, it will be paid the Friday before. For instance, your Saturday, July 1, 2017 payment will be paid on Friday, June 30, 2017 instead.
The SSA has listed a calendar on their website that shows when every payment date is. Recipients are encouraged to print it out, so that they can better budget their money.
How Much Social Security Will You Receive in 2017?
It is difficult to give an exact answer to this, but you can expect to receive around as much as what you did in 2016. This is because inflation has remained low, with a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of just 0.3% for 2017 as a result. Plus, you won't even see this increase if you are in receipt of social security benefits, because there will also be an increase in your Medicare premiums of the same percentage, and since this is withheld directly from your benefit payments, you will essentially receive basically the same amount as what you are receiving now.