Social Security Update: Americans Getting an Extra Payment This Month

American recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security payments will be receiving two checks this month due to the dates that payment days fall on.

Normally, the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends out payments for recipients on the first of each month, but there are sometimes exceptions for these dates depending on the calendar for the specific year.

"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," the SSA states on its website on its frequently asked questions (FAQ) page.

For the current month, SSI recipients will receive their first payment on September 1, but an additional payment will come on Friday, September 29. This payment will be for the month of October, since October 1 lands on a Sunday. That means, after the September 29 payment, recipients won't receive their next payment until November 1.

Last year, the SSA announced that Social Security benefits and SSI payments were increasing by 8.7 percent for 2023 for a cost of living adjustment (COLA). The increase for 2023 payments was seen as the highest rate in 40 years.

"The earnings limit for workers who are younger than 'full' retirement age will increase to $21,240," the government agency said last year. "The earnings limit for people reaching their 'full' retirement age in 2023 will increase to $56,520."

Additionally, the SSA is expected to announce in October another COLA for next year's payments. In July, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) estimated that 2024's COLA could be 3 percent following data related to inflation and the consumer price index.

"The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), the index that's used to determine the COLA, was up only 2.3 percent year over year. However, the average inflation rate over the past twelve months rose slightly and thus affected our COLA estimate, rising from 2.7% last month to 3% based on the June data," TSCL said in a press release in July.

In the press release, TSCL also noted that the estimated COLA could change in the coming months and said that the 3 percent adjustment would "raise an average monthly benefit of $1,787.00 by a little more than $53.60."

However, TSCL said that "Social Security recipients won't learn the bottom line until the Medicare Part B premiums are announced. Part B premiums are automatically deducted from most beneficiaries' Social Security benefit. In many years, the Part B premium increase can take most, or even all, the COLA leaving little else to cover other rising prices."

Newsweek reached out to the Social Security Administration via email for comment.