Social Security Benefits: Payments of Up to $5,108 Going Out This Week
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Millions of Americans will be receiving their monthly Social Security payment this week, with some receiving a little over $5,000.
Why It Matters
The Social Security Administration (SSA) pays out retirement, survivor and disability benefits to more than 70 million Americans every month.
Benefit Payments This Week
Retirement, spousal and survivor checks are distributed throughout the month, usually dependent on when you are born and whether you collect any other payments like Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
This week, retirement, survivor and spousal benefits will be paid out on Wednesday, May 21, to those born between the 11th and 20th of any month. This does not include any beneficiaries who also claim SSI who were paid earlier this month.
The SSA advises waiting three working days before contacting the agency if an expected payment has not arrived as scheduled.
How Much Is Social Security?
As of January 2025, the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit is $1,976. Maximum benefits depend on when you begin collecting. Retiring at age 62 yields up to $2,831 per month, while claiming at full retirement age (67) can bring in up to $4,018. If you wait until age 70, the maximum rises to $5,108. Actual benefit amounts vary based on your lifetime earnings and how much Social Security taxes you've paid.
For SSI, the maximum monthly benefit in 2025 is $967 for individuals and $1,450 for couples. However, your actual payment may be lower depending on your income, living arrangements, and other eligibility factors.
2026 COLA
Every year, the amount of Social Security benefits a person can receive can rise due to the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, which raises payments in line with inflation to help keep up with rising prices. For 2025, benefits were raised by 2.5 percent.
The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) and independent Social Security and Medicare policy analyst Mary Johnson have both forecast that benefits will rise by 2.4 percent for 2026, slightly lower than 2025.
"While a COLA decrease may be viewed by some retirees as a bad thing, it's actually a good one for the overall future economic outlook," Alex Beene, financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, previously told Newsweek. "The stabilization of COLA indicates that the pricing pressures of inflation are finally starting to [subside]. While seniors are undoubtedly still having to do more dollar counting than a few years ago, not having to dramatically increase beneficiary spending shows prices are stabilizing, even if they're still higher than they were five years ago."
The official COLA for 2026 will be announced by the SSA in October 2025.
Upcoming Payment Dates
If you're still waiting for your monthly check, the SSA will make further payments on the following dates this month:
Wednesday, May 28 : Benefits for those with birthdays between the 21st and 31st.
: Benefits for those with birthdays between the 21st and 31st. Friday, May 30: SSI payments for June. This payment will come slightly earlier than usual, as the regular payment date falls on a weekend.
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"China is hurting, yes—but they still hold the upper hand on critical resources, and they know how to use them." Any lessening of tensions — and freer flow — of these mineral resources in China would be a significant boost to the global economy with China holding outsized leverage in both the reserves and processing capacity of these key building blocks for everything from computers to electric vehicle batteries to medical devices. Likewise, the US offering concessions on export controls would be a significant move after years where successive US administrations have wielded these controls — especially around the design and manufacture of semiconductors — by saying they need to be tight on China for national security reasons. Read more here. May's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report will be released on Wednesday and its expected to show that prices rose a bit faster than in April. Yahoo Finance's Allie Canal breaks down what to look out for and how President Trump's tariffs are impacting what consumers are now paying for goods and services. Read more here. Now that the US-China trade truce is back on track, both sides are keen to ensure it stays that way. China's Vice Premier He Lifeng said both sides need to now 'show the spirit of good faith in abiding by their commitments and jointly safeguard the hard-won results of the dialogue.' Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Reuters reports: Read more here. Despite the US-China trade truce resuming the pain from President Trump's tariffs remains in China, especially among small exporters. Reuters reports: Read more here. Japan warned Wednesday that tariffs threaten its economic growth, the government said in a monthly report. Reuters reports: Read more here. Reuters reports: Read more here. Reuters reports: Read more here. A federal appeals could said on Tuesday that President Trump's sweeping tariffs can continue for now. This is a significant win for Trump, who introduced tariffs back in March and declared "Liberation Day," as he saw them as a way to free the US from what he called unfair trade practices. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Early summer sales for Inditex, the owner of fashion retailer Zara, came in weaker, as the company missed expectations for first quarter sales on Wednesday. President Trump's tariffs have impacted consumer demand in the US and other major markets. Reuters reports: Read more here. After weeks of back and forth, the US and China have agreed on a framework to implement the Geneva consensus that helped ease tariffs. The breakthrough came after two days of talks in London, including a marathon session on Tuesday. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said both sides had to "get the negativity out" before making progress. 'Now we can go forward to try to do positive trade, growing trade,' he said. As part of the deal, Beijing has promised to speed up shipments of rare earth metals, a crucial component for global auto and defense industries. Washington will ease export controls. This marks the first sign of movement on key issues. The proposal will now be presented to President Trump and China's Xi. Still, the discussions also did little to resolve a long-standing issue: China's trade surplus with the US. 'Markets will likely welcome the shift from confrontation to coordination,' said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. 'We're not out of the woods yet — it's up to Trump and Xi to approve and enforce the deal.' The meeting was set up after a phone call between the two leaders, following weeks of each side accusing the other of breaking the Geneva commitments. Both countries had used chips, rare earths, student visas and ethane as bargaining tools. Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor at East China Normal University, said trust, not money, has been the biggest casualty of the trade war. 'We've heard a lot about frameworks,' he said. 'But the fundamental issue remains: Chips versus rare earths. Everything else is a peacock dance.' Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
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