SSI, or Supplemental Security Income, is one of the most important benefits that the Social Security Administration (SSA) gives out because, unlike the other four benefits it handles, it works with all of them.
Usually, the SSA has a rule that says you can only get one type of benefit at a time. For example, if you were a worker who was eligible for disability payments, when you reach retirement age, those payments would automatically change into a retirement benefit.
A different example is that spouses can choose to claim benefits on their own or their partner’s record and get the bigger amount. They can’t get both benefits and add them up, though.
With SSI, this is not the case; as long as the recipient meets the program’s requirements, they can get it along with any other benefit.
What are the requirements to receive SSI?
People who are blind, 65 or older, or have a disability that meets certain criteria can get SSI even if they don’t have a lot of money or resources. There are also families with children who have disabilities that qualify.
The most a person can get from SSI in 2025 (after the 2% cost of living increase) is $967 for an eligible person, $1,450 for an eligible person with an eligible spouse, and $484 for an essential person (a carer of a recipient).
There are strict rules about income and resources, but this benefit is for people who really need it, so it makes sense that the SSA would want to keep it only for people who really need it.
Scheduling is the biggest problem SSI recipients have when they want to know when they will get their payment. On the first of every month, SSI is given to all recipients at the same time. This is different from other benefits, which are given out based on dates of birth.
The first of the month could easily fall on a weekend or a national holiday, though, so the distribution date would have to be moved to the day before, when banks are open and the US Postal Service delivers mail.
This means that some months you might get two SSI checks and other months you might not get one at all. This makes it hard to keep track of the dates for this benefit.
But there is good news for beneficiaries: the SSA has released the official payment dates for SSI benefits, even though it’s not even 2025 yet. This way, people who qualify can mark their calendars and know when their benefits should arrive.
They will be able to see which months will have double payments and which months will not get a cheque (if that happens). This will help them better plan their spending so that it fits with their payments.
So, without further ado, this is the 2025 Social Security calendar for SSI payments
- December 31, 2024: January 2025 payment. Even though it is distributed in 2024, this payment
- will already have the 2025 cost of living increase baked into it.
- January 31, 2025: February 2025 payment.
- February 28, 2025: March 2025 payment.
- April 1, 2025: April 2025 payment.
- May 1, 2025: May 2025 payment.
- May 30, 2025: June 2025 payment.
- July 1, 2025: July 2025 payment.
- August 1, 2025: August 2025 payment.
- August 30, 2025: September 2025 payment.
- October 1, 2025: July 2025 payment. October 2025.
- October 31, 2025: November 2025 payment.
- December 1, 2025: December 2025 payment.
- December 31, 2025: January 2026 payment. Same as with the 2025 January payment, even though it is technically distributed in 2025 it will have the 2026 cost of living increase baked into it.