Social Security payments will follow a normal schedule in March.
Social Security benefits – paid mostly to recipients who are older or retired – are typically paid on Wednesdays. On the second Wednesday of the month, payments are issued for beneficiaries whose birthday falls between the first and 10th days of the month (this month, that lands on March 11), according to the Social Security Administration’s calendar.
Those born between the 11th and 20th get paid on the third Wednesday (March 18) of the month; those born after the 20th of the month are paid on the fourth Wednesday of the month (March 25), according to the SSA calendar. Social Security recipients who began getting benefits before May 1997 are scheduled to be paid on March 3.
A Social Security Administration (SSA) office in Washington, DC, March 26, 2025.
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This month’s payments come after a worrying report from the Congressional Budget Office, which suggests the Social Security trust fund (official name: the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund) will become depleted in fiscal year 2032 (by September 2032), sooner than the 2033 estimation projected by the program’s trustees in June 2025.
After the depletion of the trust fund, which makes up the difference between Social Security payments and incoming revenue from payroll taxes, the program will have to begin reducing benefit payments. Benefit cuts are estimated at 7% in 2032 and an average of 28% per year from 2033 to 2036, according to the CBO.
Here’s the schedule for Social Security payments in March.
The Social Security Administration’s 2026 benefit payments calendar is available online – and there’s a handy calendar below – so you can check the schedules for budgeting purposes.
March 2026 Social Security retirement benefits will be sent out on the SSA’s usual schedule:
Wednesday, March 11: Birth dates between the first and 10th of the month.
Wednesday, March 18: Birth dates between the 11th and 20th of the month.
Wednesday, March 25: Birth dates between the 21st and 31st of the month.
Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks are typically issued payments on the first business day of the month. Since March 1, 2026 is a Sunday, payments for March were to go out Friday, Feb. 27, 2026.
Here are the dates for SSI payments for 2026, according to the SSA calendar:
Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 (Check for March 2026)
Wednesday, April 1, 2026 (Check for April 2026)
Friday, May 1, 2026 (Check for May 2026)
Monday, June 1, 2026 (Check for June 2026)
Wednesday, July 1, 2026 (Check for July 2026)
Friday, July 31, 2026 (Check for August 2026)
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 (Check for September 2026)
Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026 (Check for October 2026)
Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 (Check for November 2026)
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2026 (Check for December 2026)
Friday, Dec. 31, 2026 (Check for January 2027)
