Social Security beneficiaries will receive their March payments according to the program’s standard distribution calendar, with checks and direct deposits scheduled throughout the month based on recipient birth dates.
For most retirees, benefits are issued on Wednesdays. Those born between the first and 10th of any month are slated to receive payments on the second Wednesday, which falls on March 11 this year. Beneficiaries with birth dates from the 11th through the 20th are scheduled for payment on March 18, while those born between the 21st and 31st are set to be paid on March 25.
Recipients who began collecting benefits before May 1997 follow a separate schedule and are typically paid on the third day of each month. In March, that payment date is March 3.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, which are generally distributed on the first business day of the month, were issued early for March. Because March 1 falls on a Sunday, SSI payments were sent on Friday, Feb. 27.
The March disbursements come as federal budget analysts project financial strain on the program’s primary trust fund. In its February baseline projections, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund will be exhausted by fiscal year 2032, earlier than the 2033 estimate issued by the program’s trustees last year.
Social Security benefits are paid from dedicated trust funds financed primarily through payroll taxes, interest earned on trust fund balances, and taxes collected on benefits. While the agency’s baseline assumes scheduled payments will continue in full, current law does not permit the Social Security Administration to pay benefits beyond the available balances in a depleted trust fund.
Meanwhile, beneficiaries are receiving higher payments this year following the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment. The Social Security Administration announced that benefits increased by 2.8 percent beginning in January, affecting nearly 71 million Social Security recipients and about 7.5 million SSI beneficiaries.
In announcing the adjustment, Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano said the annual increase is intended to help benefits keep pace with economic conditions.
“Social Security is a promise kept, and the annual cost-of-living adjustment is one way we are working to make sure benefits reflect today’s economic realities and continue to provide a foundation of security,” he said in a statement.
The SSA also said the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes increased to $184,500 for 2026, up from $176,100. Beneficiaries were notified of their new payment amounts beginning in December, either by mail or through their personal “my Social Security” online accounts.