Social Security Payments: What If You Don’t Get Yours Next Month?

By Our Editorial Team | Published March 30, 2023

Expert Verified

Our editorial team verifies all financial and lifestyle information for accuracy and relevance to senior living.

senior month — Photo by shurkin_son from Shutterstock

Here’s why your Social Security might be late

Generally, Social Security payments are quite punctual, but they might turn out to be late in some cases. Here are some of the most relevant examples of when it might happen:

If you recently applied for your benefits

You probably didn’t know this, but Social Security applications might take up to three months to process, so it’s not that unusual to have a huge amount of delay between applying and receiving your first benefits.

If you’re currently applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, the waiting period is usually five months. Even so, once they approve your application, you should instantly receive your benefit on a monthly basis, and it usually arrives on the same day.