Mysterious $100.40 one-time payment appeared in my Social Security survivor benefits - what is this?

This is most likely a small retroactive COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) payment or a recalculation based on your deceased spouse's earnings record. SSA sometimes issues these when they review accounts and find small discrepancies or after processing annual wage reports. They don't always send notices for small amounts under a certain threshold. I wouldn't worry about spending it - if it came from SSA directly, it's almost certainly legitimate. You can verify it in your MySocialSecurity account under "Payment History" where it might have a payment code that explains what it was for.

got something similar last month! mine was $94.68 but same thing no letter. i just assumed it was some kinda adjustment lol. didnt question free $

This EXACT same thing happened to me in June!!! I got a random payment for $113.25 with my survivor benefits and spent FOUR HOURS trying to get through to someone at Social Security to explain it. When I finally talked to someone, they said it was a "processing adjustment" from when they calculated my initial benefits back in 2023. Apparently they found some calculation error and owed me a small back payment. But I still never got a letter explaining it. So frustrating how they don't communicate these things!!!

What you received is most likely an underpayment adjustment. These typically happen when: 1. SSA recalculates benefits based on updated information 2. There was a slight delay in processing a COLA increase 3. A computation error was discovered during a routine review 4. Additional earnings from your spouse were processed For small amounts under $150, SSA often doesn't send detailed notices. The adjustment should appear in your payment history in MySocialSecurity, though sometimes the codes aren't very descriptive. If you want to know the exact reason, you can request an explanation by calling SSA directly or by submitting a message through your online account asking for details about the specific payment date.

I was in a similar situation trying to figure out an unexpected payment with my disability benefits. After multiple failed attempts calling the main SSA number and waiting on hold forever, I finally found a service called Claimyr that got me through to a real person at Social Security in about 20 minutes. They basically call SSA for you and when they reach an agent, they connect you. Saved me hours of frustration! You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - I was skeptical at first but it actually worked. Their website is claimyr.com if you want to check it out instead of spending all day on hold.

My neighbor who also gets survivors benefits told me they sometimes do these little adjustments at the beginning of the year or after tax season. Something about recalculations? But the fact that there's no explanation is typical government inefficiency if you ask me!! They expect us to document EVERYTHING but then send random money with zero explanation!

Just to add a bit more clarity - these small adjustment payments are fairly common with survivor benefits specifically. When a person passes away, sometimes there are wage reports or earnings updates that come in months or even a year later. When that happens, SSA automatically recalculates the benefit amount based on the updated earnings record. If the recalculation shows you were owed a small additional amount, they'll issue a one-time payment like you received. For amounts under a certain threshold (I believe it's around $120-150), they often don't generate a letter to save on administrative costs. You could request an official explanation called a "BPQY" (Benefits Planning Query) which would show the exact reason, but honestly for $100 it might not be worth the hassle.