Social Security’s Black Friday Surprise: $943 Checks Just in Time for Holiday Shopping!

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is one of the most popular federal institutions. It runs five programs to help some of society’s most vulnerable citizens, such as seniors and the disabled, make ends meet. Each program has its own set of standards that beneficiaries must follow, as well as a specified distribution schedule to guarantee that no errors occur and that all beneficiaries receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

The programs are:

Retirement: Probably the most well-known, is available to all workers who have earned at least ten years (40 credits) of taxable income and have reached the age of sixty-two.

Disability: The second most popular program, it requires claimants to have worked a minimum number of hours and meet the SSA’s medical standards.

Survivors: The specific requirements depend on your relationship with the dead worker and his or her age at the time of death.

Family or spousal and child benefits: As with survivors, the standards vary depending on your relationship with the worker. As a general rule, current and past spouses can receive this payment at the same time for up to 50% of the retired worker’s benefit at full retirement age. Conditions apply to ex-spouses.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI): In addition to age or disability restrictions, you must fulfill specific income and resource limits to be eligible for this benefit. It is compatible with the majority of the other benefits.

The Social Security Calendar

Because these programs are so different and serve such diverse demographics and purposes, it stands to reason that the SSA would separate the payments in some way to ensure that no errors are made. Payments are separated into three types. Beneficiaries who began claiming before to May 1997, those who began claiming after May 1997, and SSI recipients. The schedule is as follows.

Beneficiaries who started receiving benefits before May 1997 will receive their payments on the third of each month.

Beneficiaries who began receiving benefits after May 1997 will receive payments based on their date of birth. This includes retirement payouts, disability benefits, survivors, and relatives.

• Beneficiaries born between the 1st and 10th of each month: The second Wednesday of the month.
• Beneficiaries born between the 11th and 20th of each month: The third Wednesday of the month.
• Beneficiaries born between the 21st and 31st of each month: The fourth Wednesday of the month.

SSI beneficiaries receive their payments on the first of each month

This means that the timetable for November looks somewhat like this:

• SSI participants received their payments on November 1st.
• Beneficiaries who started receiving benefits before May 1997 received their payments on November 3rd.
• Beneficiaries born between the first and tenth of each month received their reward on November 13th.
• Beneficiaries born between the 11th and 20th of each month received their payments on November 20th.
• Beneficiaries born between the 21st and 31st of each month will get payment on November 27th.

Due to a calendar quirk, SSI beneficiaries will receive a second payment in November. The December payment is due on Sunday the first, and payments cannot be issued on holidays or weekends, thus they must be distributed on the preceding day when banks are open and the US postal service operates. In this situation, the payment will now be due on Friday, November 29, which this year coincides with Black Friday.

For anyone wondering how this is possible, Black Friday is not a national holiday. Even though many businesses choose to make the most of the long weekend by closing for the day, banks and stores remain open, as does the postal service.