I was receiving as checks on the 4th Wednesday of every month. I just received a letter from ssa that says my payment date will be changed to the 3rd of the month. What is the reason for this?

Hi,

For most people, the day of the month on which they are paid Social Security benefits depends on the day of birth of the person on whose record they receive benefits. If the worker was born in the first 10 days of a month, the beneficiary is normally paid on the 2nd Wednesday of the month. If the worker was born on the 11th through 20th day of a month, the beneficiary is normally paid on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. And, if the worker was born after the 20th of a month the beneficiary is usually paid on the 4th Wednesday of the month. As is true with most Social Security rules, though, there are exceptions (https://blog.ssa.gov/what-day-of-the-month-do-i-get-my-social-security-p...).

The most likely scenario to explain a change to being paid on the 3rd Wednesday instead of the 4th Wednesday would be that you changed from drawing benefits on a worker's record who was born after the 20th of a month to the record of a worker who was born from the 11th through the 20th day of a month. If that isn't what happened in your case then you'll probably need to ask Social Security for an explanation.

Best, Jerry