SS From the time you apply to the time they start sending your money

[No Vested Interest]

8. Not all are on the third of the month, for a number of years now.

I applied at age 62, and for a number of years now, my direct deposit has always been on about the 17th of the month.
They were encouraging direct deposit even a number of years ago, so mine has always been received that way.

Now all routine government payments ( I hate the word entitlements, but will use it here for clarification of the type of payments I'm referring to) are either by direct deposit or payments deposited onto a type of card similar to a debit card.

My daughter, who receives SSI, received a check by mail until May of this year. Now she has been issued a debit-type card which is "refilled" on the third of the month, as you say, unless holiday or weekend, when it may be issued earlier.