Social Security Update: Two Types of Payments Arriving This Week

Two types of Social Security payments will be made to millions of recipients this week.

More than 75 million Americans received Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or both in July, according to the Social Security Administration’s latest monthly data. Of those, around 71.3 million received Social Security benefits, including retirement, survivor and spousal payments.

However, beneficiaries are not all paid on the same day. The SSA uses a staggered payment schedule, meaning when a person receives their benefits depends on factors including their date of birth and the type of benefit they receive.

This week, SSI and certain retirement, survivor, and spousal benefit recipients will receive their September payment.

Payments This Week

Two groups of beneficiaries are due to receive payments this week, according to the Social Security Administration’s 2026 payment calendar. SSI recipients are scheduled to receive their September payment on Tuesday, September 1. SSI is generally paid on the first day of each month, unless that date falls on a weekend or federal holiday.

A second payment will go out on Thursday, September 3, to people who began receiving Social Security benefits before May 1997. The same date applies to the Social Security portion of payments for people who receive both Social Security and SSI; their SSI payment is made separately on September 1.

Further Payment Dates

Still waiting for your payment? Yours is likely coming on one of the following dates this September:

• Wednesday, September 9: Payments for beneficiaries with birthdays between the 1st and 10th.
• Wednesday, September 16: Payments for beneficiaries with birthdays between the 11th and 20th.
• Wednesday, September 23: Payments for beneficiaries with birthdays between the 21st and 31st.

How Much Is Social Security?

Social Security payments vary significantly depending on a person’s earnings history and the age at which they begin claiming benefits. In 2026, the maximum retirement benefit for someone who starts collecting at full retirement age is $4,152 per month. A worker claiming at age 62 can receive a maximum of $2,969, while someone who waits until age 70 can receive as much as $5,181 per month.

Most retirees, however, receive less. According to the SSA’s latest monthly data, the average retired worker received $2,085.98 in July 2026. Across all Social Security beneficiaries, including retirees, spouses, survivors and disabled beneficiaries, the average monthly payment was $1,940.08.

Social Security retirement benefits are primarily based on a worker’s earnings over their career. The SSA adjusts past earnings to account for changes in wages over time and then uses the worker’s 35 highest-earning years to calculate an average, then that figure is put through the Social Security benefit formula to determine the worker’s basic benefit. Taking Social Security before full retirement age reduces the monthly payment, while delaying benefits beyond full retirement age can increase it, up to age 70.

SSI works differently because it is a needs-based program rather than a benefit based primarily on a person’s employment record. The maximum federal SSI payment in 2026 is $994 per month for an individual and $1,491 for an eligible couple, although many recipients receive less because payments can be reduced based on income, living arrangements and other factors.

The average SSI payment, including federally administered state supplements where applicable, was $736.54 per month in July.

COLA Boost Incoming

Social Security benefits are increased every year to help benefits keep up with inflation. The annual boost is known as the COLA, or cost-of-living adjustment.

Social Security benefits are adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). It is calculated using third quarter readings – July, August, and September. For July 2026, the CPI-W was 3.4 percent higher than it had been a year earlier.

Because inflation has run hot this year, it is expected that the annual COLA will be more than the 2.8 percent boost for this year. The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a nonpartisan senior advocacy group, now estimates that Social Security’s 2027 cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, will be 3.6 percent. AARP, an advocacy group for Americans over 50, now expects a 3.5 percent COLA in 2027.

“The good news is a COLA somewhere in the upper 3 percent range remains increasingly possible, but the bad news is that the same inflation producing a larger Social Security increase is also raising the prices retirees pay for many essential goods and services,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, previously told Newsweek.

The SSA traditionally announces the official COLA in October, as soon as all three third-quarter inflation figures are available.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Cristina Diciu.