Social Security update: February direct payment worth $943 goes out in 26 days

The first Supplemental Security Income payment of 2024, worth up to $943 for individual filers, will go out to recipients in February, which is just under four weeks away.

The payment will be released in 26 days, on Thursday, Feb. 1, and marks the first payment of the new year because no payment was issued in January. Recipients were given two payments in December instead because of a scheduling quirk in the Social Security Administration’s calendar.

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The amount each person receives varies depending on whether the recipient qualified for the payment as an individual filer, joint filer, or essential person.

This year, individual filers will receive up to $943 each month, eligible couples will receive up to $1,415, and essential persons, who live with people receiving SSI payments and provide them with necessary care, will get $472, according to the SSA. These amounts are an increase of 3.2% from 2023.

Not every recipient will receive the maximum payment, and filers can see a personalized estimate through the SSA’s calculator.

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SSI payments are given on top of regular Social Security benefits, providing monthly payments to adults and children with blindness or another disability and limited income. To qualify for SSI, a person has to be totally or partially blind or have a “physical or mental condition(s) that seriously limits their daily activities for a period of 12 months or more, or may be expected to result in death.”

Created in 1974, the SSI program seeks to provide extra assistance to society’s most vulnerable members, including elderly, blind, and disabled people. The program was intended to provide an income floor, which state assistance programs would supplement.