For some US citizens there will be two Social Security payments this month, a strange situation as a result of a peculiarity of the system, normally, the Social Security Administration makes the sending of a single payment of Supplemental Social Security (SSI) monthly and makes the delivery of the checks on the first day of the month, unless the first day of the month is a weekend or a holiday.
Since June 1st falls on a Saturday, SSI beneficiary citizens will receive two payments within the month of May, it is expected that the first check will arrive on May 1, and that the second check, which corresponds to the month of June, will arrive on May 31, SSI benefits support people with disabilities and senior citizens with limited resources, consecutive deposits does not mean that retirees will receive extra money, it is only an advance payment for the following month.
Am I Getting Extra Supplemental Security Income Money? Here’s the Explanation
Extra money would be great news, right? Well, this is not extra, per se. In a recent survey published by Atticus, it was revealed that an overwhelming percentage of seniors who collect Social Security (approximately 62%) are dissatisfied with the 3.2% payment increase they will receive in 2024.
It is expected that this phenomenon of Social Security payment advance will occur at least a couple more times this 2024, in the month of August and the month of September, as shown in the payment calendar on the website of the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Retirees received a modest increase in the cost of living this year, but many have expressed that they have difficulties to meet their expenses and get ahead while they are in a continuous struggle against high inflation that has rapidly damaged their purchasing power.
Social Security Beneficiaries Struggle With the Payments
In fact, almost three out of five seniors made a report for having financial difficulties, since the cost of necessities such as food, rent, and medical care remains significantly high, while about 20% of seniors who receive Social Security have outsourced looking for a job this year due to the small increase.
Retired people expressed their concerns and concern about the increase in costs in utilities, insurance, heating, and food. More than 66 million U.S. citizens who receive Social Security collected higher payments starting in January.
The increase in payments pointed to a sharp drop since 2023, when beneficiaries received a significant increase of 8.7%, the highest in four decades, however, it is still higher than the average increase of 2.6% recorded in the last two decades. An increase of this size increased the average retired citizen’s benefit of $1,907 by about $59 a month.
In the annual change of the Social Security, the calculation is made based on the consumer price index for urban wage earners and administrative workers, or the CPI-W, for July, August, and September.