In less than three days, millions of American retirees will see the Social Security Administration’s monthly payment reflected in their bank accounts. The deposit is scheduled for this Wednesday, May 13, and will benefit a specific group of recipients — the first of three that the SSA serves throughout the month under a staggered system that has been in place for nearly three decades.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) does not pay all retirement, survivor, and disability benefits on a single date. Since May 1997, the federal agency has distributed those payments across three separate Wednesdays each month, determined by the beneficiary’s date of birth.
The first group to receive payment each month is always those born between the 1st and the 10th of any month of the year. For them, May brings the deposit on Wednesday the 13th. Those with birthdays between the 11th and the 20th will have to wait until Wednesday the 20th, and those born between the 21st and the 31st will not receive their payment until Wednesday the 27th.
Other Social Security Groups Get Their Money in a Different Way
Not every retiree collects this Wednesday. Some categories of beneficiaries follow a different schedule. Those who began receiving Social Security before May 1997 are paid on the third of each month regardless of their birthday. The same applies to people who receive both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, known as SSI.
In those cases, Social Security arrives on the 3rd and SSI on the 1st of each month. The May SSI payment was already deposited on Friday, May 1. Wednesday’s deposit also does not apply to those living outside the United States or to beneficiaries whose Medicare Part B premiums are covered by their state — groups that also receive their benefits at the start of the month.
Is Your Deposit Delayed?
If the money does not appear in the account on the scheduled date, the first call should go to the bank, not to the federal agency. In many cases, the delay originates with the financial institution’s internal processing, not with the SSA itself. If the payment is still missing after that conversation, the next step is to call 1-800-772-1213, the SSA’s direct assistance line, or visit the nearest local Social Security office in person.
The amount each beneficiary receives on Wednesday the 13th depends on their work history, the wages they earned during their working years, and the age at which they chose to begin collecting. Those who waited until age 70 to claim their benefit receive the highest possible monthly amounts under the system.
At the other end, those who started collecting at 62 receive a permanently reduced share of what they would have received had they waited. The national average retirement benefit in 2026 sits around $1,900 per month, though that figure varies considerably from one beneficiary to the next.
