Will Social Security Payments Be Delayed Because of New Year’s Day?
Written by
Selena Fragassi
Edited by
Daria Uhlig
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The winter holidays fall on weekend dates every now and then, and in 2022, we are due. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are on a Saturday and Sunday, respectively — and because New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are exactly one week later, those two holidays fall on a weekend, too.
That comes as great news for American workers who get some extra time off because their company offers an “observed” holiday on a workday to compensate — Monday, Dec. 26 and Monday, Jan. 2, for example, since most 9-5ers get weekends off already.
But will the weekend holidays affect Social Security checks? According to the Social Security Administration, if your regularly scheduled payment date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal public holiday, benefits will be paid the business day before your due date.
This won’t be an issue for most of the 66 million individuals on Social Security, regardless of where the holidays fall, since benefits are paid on Wednesdays based on birth dates. The schedule, according to AARP, is as follows:
- For birth dates that fall on the 1st through the 10th, recipients are paid on the second Wednesday of each month.
- For birth dates that fall on the 11th through the 20th, recipients are paid on the third Wednesday of each month.
- For birth dates that fall on the 21st through the 31st, recipients are paid on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
Although Social Security retirement benefits won’t be affected by the New Years holiday, the fact that New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday will impact those who receive Social Security Supplemental Income. Those payments are sent out on the 1st of every month, and because that date is both a weekend and public holiday, SSI will have a different pay schedule. SSI beneficiaries’ January check will be paid two days early, on Dec. 30 — the last weekday before the New Year’s holiday. No money will be sent out in the month of January, then, so the next check will be sent on Feb. 1, 2023.
Getting the first Social Security payments of 2023 on-time — or even early, in the case of SSI — will be great news to the many millions who receive benefits, because those checks will be the first to reflect the new cost of living adjustment that went into effect in December for the coming year. As GOBankingRates previously reported, that adjustment will be 8.7%, which is roughly an extra $144 for individuals and $240 for couples who claim together.
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