Social Security payments follow a normal schedule in January and will be the first check to include the 2026 cost-of-living increase.
Social Security benefits – paid mostly to recipients who are older or retired – are typically paid on Wednesdays. On the second Wednesday of the month, payments are issued for beneficiaries whose birthday falls between the first and 10th days of the month (this month, that lands on Jan. 14), according to the Social Security Administration’s calendar.
Those born between the 11th and 20th get paid on the third Wednesday (Jan. 21) of the month; those born after the 20th of the month are paid on the fourth Wednesday of the month (Jan. 28), according to the SSA calendar. Social Security recipients who began getting benefits before May 1997 are paid on Jan. 3.
