The second round of Social Security checks will hit accounts in just days.
While the first wave of cash hit accounts the second week of July, the next wave is coming on July 15. Payments are always issued on Wednesdays and are distributed three times a month, all based on your birthday.
This means those born between the 2nd and 11th of the month will automatically see their benefits on Wednesday, July 15, according to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) payment calendar. For recipients who still love a paper check, yours will be mailed by that date.
Beneficiaries born from the 11th to the 20th will see checks on the third Wednesday, and those born after the 20th are paid on the fourth Wednesday. If you received Social Security before May 1997 or are claiming Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), your cash will come on the third day of the month and the SSI payment on the first day of the month.
Check amounts vary for everyone receiving benefits and are based on a few factors: your earnings history, the age you retire and the year you retire. According to the SSA, the following benefit amounts apply to those who earned the maximum taxable earnings each year starting at age 22 and who start receiving Social Security benefits in 2026.
If you retire at full retirement age in 2026 — which is between 66 and 67 and depends on birth year — your check amount would be $4,152.
If you retire at age 62 — the earliest you can claim in 2026 — your benefit would be $2,969.
For those who delay their retirement to age 70 in 2026, which guarantees the maximum possible monthly payout, your benefit would be $5,181.
Just note that your benefits could be lower if you earned less than the taxable maximum.
The right time to start claiming depends on the person. If you choose to withdraw early, expect your benefits to be reduced by up to 30%. But this could be necessary as early retirement might be caused by health challenges, unexpected job loss or job market conditions.
For others, waiting until full retirement age could be a better financial move as check amounts increase substantially. Those who delay until age 70 are able to claim the maximum benefit allowed.
Break-even age could be the best time to claim for others. Break-even age is when seniors start benefiting from having waited to claim Social Security.
A helpful tool to help determine the right age for retirement is the Social Security break-even calculator. This gives folks access to tools that are specifically tailored to them and based on earnings history.
It’s fairly simple to use, just start by choosing a future age to begin receiving retirement benefits in years and months or use the “age” scroll bar. Next choose a future date to start receiving retirement benefits, and then enter the average annual income you expect to earn until retirement.
The calculator will then spit out an age based one those factors. Just remember that the calculations are speculative and don’t take into account your life expectancy, cost-of-living adjustments, inflation or other taxes that may be applied to your benefits.
