Social Security retirement benefit payments in October have already started making their ways to the recipients’ wallets. They follow a preestablished pattern that divides payments into specific dates based on the beneficiary’s birthday.
The scheme starts by assigning the second Wednesday of the month, which falls on October 8, to individuals born between the 1st and 10th of any month. This distribution allows for an orderly flow of transactions throughout the period.
The third Wednesday, October 15, is designated for those born between the 11th and 20th. The fourth Wednesday, October 22, covers those born between the 21st and 31st. These dates repeat annually without major variations, according to records from the Social Security Administration.
There’s an exception for certain retirement recipients
For those who began receiving benefits before May 1997 or who combine Social Security with Supplemental Security Income, payment is made on the third day of the month, October 3. The Administration allows a three-business-day window for checks to arrive in the mail if they are not deposited electronically.
Those are the four groups of every month. By today, just the SSI payment (first day of the month) and the group of October 3 have already received their benefits.
Maximum and average Social Security payments in October
The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2025 increases retirement benefits by 2.5 percent, effective January of that year. This change raised the average monthly benefit for retired workers from $1,927 to $1,976. More than 72.5 million recipients in the United States will see this amount reflected in their October payments.
Most deposits are made directly into bank accounts, while a smaller percentage arrives via postal checks, but the SSA just ordered to totally phase out the paper checks as of October 2025.
Let’s project how much Social Security payments could increase in 2026
The Social Security Administration will announce the 2026 COLA in October 2025, based on third-quarter inflation metrics. Current projections from The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) estimate a 2.7 percent increase, up from 2.5 percent in 2025. This level was revised upward from a previous prediction of 2.6 percent in August.
Other estimates place the 2026 COLA between 2.4 and 3 percent. For the average retirement beneficiary, a 2.7 percent increase would imply a monthly increase of approximately $54 over the 2025 baseline. The average benefit for retired workers reached $2,008 in August 2025.
Although the COLA is announced in October, it will be implemented starting in January 2026. There is a caveat here, because the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payment of January 1 is moved up to December 31, due to the New Year’s holiday.