Social Security Payout Goes Today: Recipients will receive up to $4,873

Millions of retirees can expect their Social Security payments today, which could be worth up to $4,873.

The Social Security Administration is expected to send checks on May 22 to pension applicants born between the 21st and 31st of each month.

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Recipients born earlier in the month should have already received their checks. Those who receive regular pension benefits without extras, such as Supplemental Security Income, usually receive their benefits on Wednesday. Those born between the 1st and 10th of each month should be paid on May 8th and those with birthdays between the 11th and 20th should be paid on May 15th.

Those who receive Social Security but live abroad or have claimed since before 1997 must be paid on May 1. Those claiming SSI — which is for elderly, blind and disabled individuals with minimal income and assets — must also have received their payments by the beginning of the month.

In May, SSI recipients can expect to be paid twice because the usual payment date – June 1 – falls on a weekend, so the payment is scheduled to arrive in bank accounts on May 31.

The SSA recommends waiting three business days after a scheduled payment date before contacting the agency about missing checks.

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Unlike some other government benefits, Social Security payments go directly to the recipient’s bank account. However, not everyone gets the same amount. Social Security checks are calculated based on the age you started claiming and how much you earned during your 35 years of highest-paying work. The average amount paid in January was $1,907, but the maximum available to those who qualify is $4,873.

In 2024, the $4,873 maximum is available only to those who retired at age 70. If you stop working and start claiming at age 62—the earliest possible age—your maximum benefit would be $2,710, the SSA said.

Regardless of how much you receive, the benefit amount increases each year due to cost-of-living adjustments, to account for inflation and to maintain purchasing power.

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How much pensioners can expect to receive next year won’t be known until October. However, the Senior Citizens League has projected a 1.75 percent increase in Social Security benefits for 2025, and the Congressional Budget Office has projected a 2.5 percent increase based on current inflation rates.

The calculation for annual growth is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Earners and Clerical Workers, also known as the CPI-W. In 2023, benefits increased by 8.7 percent — the largest single jump in SSA history — due to high inflation as the U.S. recovered from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In 2024, annual growth was 3.2 percent.