June will be a Great Month for Retirees — These Two Groups Will Receive Higher Checks

Each month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends out millions of payments to retirees, disabled individuals, and those receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI). For many of these recipients, Social Security is their primary—if not only—source of income. As a result, even small changes to benefit amounts or payment timing can significantly affect household budgets. Fortunately, this month brings some positive developments for two groups of SSA beneficiaries, who are seeing increases in their monthly payments due to recent legislative changes.

SSA’s June 2025 Payment Schedule

The SSA follows a consistent and reliable monthly payment schedule to ensure beneficiaries can plan their finances accurately. For June 2025, Social Security payments are being distributed based on beneficiaries’ birth dates:

Payment Date	Birth Dates
Wednesday, June 11	1st–10th of the month
Wednesday, June 18	11th–20th of the month
Wednesday, June 25	21st–31st of the month

However, there are exceptions:

• June 3: For beneficiaries who began receiving payments before May 1997.
• June 3: Also for those receiving both SSI and retirement benefits.
• May 30: For SSI-only recipients, due to June 1 falling on a weekend.
• May 30: Veterans receiving VA compensation, typically paid on the 1st.

This scheduling structure minimizes payment delays and avoids weekend disruptions.

Why Some SSA Payments Increased This Month

Typically, Social Security benefit increases occur once per year through the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). For 2025, the COLA was set at 2.5%, reflecting inflation and helping beneficiaries maintain purchasing power as prices rise.

However, this month’s additional increase for some recipients is the result of a major legislative change—the Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in January 2025.

Who Benefits from the New Law?

Two groups are directly impacted:

• Retirees with pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security (affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP)
• Spouses, widows, and widowers with government pensions (affected by the Government Pension Offset, or GPO)

Both WEP and GPO had historically reduced benefits for public workers—such as teachers, firefighters, and police officers—who earned a separate government pension and also qualified for Social Security through other employment or through spousal eligibility.

With the repeal of WEP and GPO:

• These beneficiaries now receive their full calculated benefit without reductions.
• Many are receiving retroactive back-payments going back to January 2024.

Retroactive Payments and What to Expect

The SSA has begun issuing adjusted monthly payments for affected beneficiaries and is also disbursing lump-sum back-payments to account for underpayments dating back over a year. This retroactive adjustment could mean thousands of dollars in catch-up payments, depending on individual benefit history.

Example Scenario:

Type of Benefit	Original Monthly Amount	Revised Monthly Amount	Back Pay (Jan 2024–May 2025)
WEP-affected retiree	$1,600	$2,100	~$7,500

These increases are a major win for retirees who have long argued that WEP and GPO unfairly penalized public sector workers and their families.

A Win with Long-Term Trade-Offs?

While the benefit increase has been welcomed by millions of retirees, it raises new questions about the financial future of Social Security. The SSA trust fund is projected to run short by the early 2030s, which could trigger across-the-board benefit cuts of up to 20% unless Congress intervenes.

Adding newly restored benefits for WEP and GPO-affected recipients may accelerate this timeline, unless offsetting measures—such as increased payroll taxes or changes to benefit formulas—are introduced.

Despite the long-term funding concerns, this month’s payment increases mark a major victory for public service retirees and their families. With back-payments being issued and full benefits restored, many are finally receiving the compensation they’ve long been owed.

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