AMERICANS are in line to receive their Social Security payments worth up to $5,108 in just days.
As the Social Security Administration sends out the cash, a major policy change was recently announced that will impact millions of checks from the federal program.
The Social Security Administration is preparing to send out payments in just days following its announcement of a major benefits policy change[/caption]
The SSA distributes retirement benefits three times each month based on a set schedule that takes into account beneficiaries’ birthdays.
Americans born on the 1st through 10th of their birth month, for example, are administered their payments on the second Wednesday of each month.
The second Wednesday of this month falls on July 9, when the first round of benefits will be sent out.
Those with birthdays falling on the 11th through the 20th receive their monthly check on the third Wednesday, which is July 16.
The last group of retirees includes people born on the 21st through the 31st, receiving their Social Security payment on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
This month, the fourth Wednesday falls on July 23.
2025 Social Security Payment Schedule
Social Security payments are handed out on the second, third, and fourth Wednesday of each month. Benefits will be paid out in 2025 on the following dates:
- January 8, 15, and 22
- February 12, 19, and 26
- March 12, 19, and 26
- April 9, 16, and 23
- May 14, 21, and 28
- June 11, 18, and 25
- July 9, 16, and 23
- August 13, 20, and 27
- September 10, 17, and 24
- October 8, 15, and 22
- November 12, 19, and 26
- December 10, 17, and 24
Americans who began receiving their retirement benefits prior to May 1997 or those receiving both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income should have received their check on July 3.
Individuals entitled to Supplemental Security Income payments should have seen the money hit their accounts on July 1.
The amount of money that Social Security beneficiaries receive when their payment drops depends on several factors, mainly including a worker’s lifetime earnings and the number of years they worked.
The maximum payment that beneficiaries can receive in 2025 is $5,108, which would require earning the maximum taxable amount for 35 years and delaying claiming benefits until age 70.
SOCIAL SECURITY SHIFT
As the SSA prepares to send out the first round of regular Social Security payments, the federal agency will soon implement a major benefits change that puts millions at risk of having their checks slashed in half.
The agency announced in April that it would send out overpayment notices starting on April 25, 2025, and would start withholding 50% of a person’s benefits after 90 days – or around July 24 at the earliest – until the overpayment is recouped.
Americans who were overpaid retirement, survivor, family, or disability payments and notified on April 25 or later are subject to the 50% rate.
Overpayments before that date, however, will see money withheld at a rate of 10%, as will all Supplemental Security Income overpayments, regardless of when they took place.
Filing a waiver with the SSA
Those who cannot afford to pay back the overpayment amounts noted by the SSA or feel they should not have to can file a specific form.
- The form is identified as SSA-632 on the SSA website and can be filled out and submitted at a local office.
- “If you agree that you have been overpaid, but you feel you should not have to pay it back because you did not cause the overpayment and you cannot afford to repay it, you should file Form SSA-632,” the SSA notes on its website.
- It also lists multiple repayment options.
- Recipients with additional questions are urged to call 1-800-772-1213.
The new 50% rate is a major U-turn from the SSA’s March announcement that 100% of a beneficiary’s monthly check would be withheld until their overpayment was fully collected.
Before the SSA took the entirety of an overpaid individual’s check, it withheld just 10%.
The federal agency had drastically dropped the recovery rate to 10% starting in spring of 2024 due to negative media coverage the previous year regarding the SSA’s collection process.
Individuals, often with disabilities a low incomes, reported receiving bills of four or even five figures to recover overpayments.
Occasionally the overpayments were years or even decades old.
Some beneficiaries who owed the SSA money faced evictions or foreclosures after their payments were slashed.
“Innocent people can be badly hurt,” said then-Social Security chief Martin O’Malley. “And these injustices shock our shared sense of equity and good conscience as Americans.”
One woman, for example, received a bill for $63,000 after Social Security overpaid her.
Plus, a couple in Michigan was left in “sheer panic” after they were hit with an overpayment bill from Social Security for $84,000.
The SSA will begin withholding 50% of certain beneficiaries’ checks in order to recover overpayments[/caption]
