Social Security approval letter received but no payment amount - when will my January 2025 benefits start?

Yes, they'll send you a separate Award Letter that shows your payment amount. It usually comes within 2-4 weeks after the approval notice. Your first payment will be deposited on the 3rd Wednesday of February 2025 since you're starting benefits in January. (Social Security pays a month behind - so January benefits come in February.) The payment date depends on your birth date: if you were born on the 1st-10th, you get paid on the 2nd Wednesday; 11th-20th is 3rd Wednesday; 21st-31st is 4th Wednesday of each month. Exception is if you were also getting benefits before May 1997, then you get paid on the 3rd of each month.

got my award letter like 2 weeks after approval. shows the exact $$$ youll get. they do the payments based on birthdate - mines the 27th so i get paid 4th wed each month. check ur myssa account online it might show up there first

MAKE SURE to check the award letter carefully when you get it!! They calculated mine wrong last year and I had to wait almost 3 months to get it fixed!!! They didn't count 2 years of my work history and it reduced my benefit by $310!!! Call them immediately if anything looks wrong because the longer you wait the harder it is to fix!!! And KEEP COPIES of everything they send you!!!

My husband just went through this. The award letter came about 10 days after the approval letter. It'll tell you the exact amount. Since you're starting in January, your first payment will come in February (they pay a month behind). Our first payment showed up right on schedule!

To add to what others have said - your benefit amount should be calculated based on your highest 35 years of earnings (adjusted for inflation). Since you're starting exactly at your Full Retirement Age (FRA) of 67, you'll receive 100% of your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). The Award Letter will show your exact benefit amount, and it typically arrives 2-3 weeks after the approval notice. Your January 2025 benefit will be paid in February 2025, and payments will continue monthly after that. If you haven't already, I recommend creating a my Social Security account at ssa.gov/myaccount where you can view your earnings history, estimated benefits, and eventually your payment information. This is also where you can set up or change direct deposit information if needed. Congratulations on your retirement!

I went through this exact situation last year. Getting the approval letter is just step one, then you wait for the award letter with the actual payment amount. But trying to reach someone at Social Security to ask questions was IMPOSSIBLE. I spent 3 days trying to get through on the phone just to confirm my payment date. I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual SSA agent in under 20 minutes after I'd been trying for days. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. It was totally worth it because I needed to verify some information about my payment schedule. Much better than wasting hours on hold or getting disconnected.

@randomuser382 Not at all sketchy. They just help you bypass the phone wait times. You still talk directly to SSA yourself. I was skeptical too but it worked great when I needed to confirm my payment schedule. Way better than waiting on hold for hours or getting disconnected repeatedly.

my mom just got her first payment and she said it took almost 6 weeks to get the award letter after the approval one. check ur bank account on the payment date even if u havent gotten the letter yet cuz sometimes they deposit the money before all the paperwork catches up

One more important thing: if you're planning to work while collecting benefits in 2025, be aware that although you're at FRA, you need to report any earnings to SSA. For people at FRA or older, there's no earnings limit that would reduce benefits, but SSA still needs to know about the income for tax purposes. You can report wages through your my Social Security account online.

also check ur medicare part b if ur signed up for that... they take it out of ur ss payment automatically and the award letter will show that deduction