When will your Social Security March check arrive? See the schedule

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The first wave of Social Security payments for March is scheduled to be distributed this week on its normal schedule, based on recipient birthdays.

Floridians who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks already got their March benefit payments early, on Feb. 27, since March 1 landed on a Sunday.

Current and future Social Security recipients may be concerned about a worrying report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO report, released last month, suggests the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by September 2032. Last June, the program’s trustees estimated the fund would be depleted in 2033.

The trust fund makes up the difference between Social Security payments and incoming revenue from payroll taxes. When that is depleted, the program will have to begin reducing benefit payments. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimates an average 28% drop in monthly retirement and survivor benefits.

Here’s what you need to know about this week’s Social Security payments.

Who gets Social Security payments in March? Here’s the schedule

Regular Social Security retirement benefits for March will be sent out on the SSA’s usual schedule:

• Wednesday, March 11: If your birth date is between the first and 10th of the month

• Wednesday, March 18: If your birth date is between the 11th and 20th of the month

• Wednesday, March 25: If your birth date is between the 21st and 31st of the month

Why is Social Security shrinking?

Social Security benefit payments went up this year with a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The annual COLA is, based on the annual Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which tracks spending habits.

However, new legislation from President Donald Trump‘s signature tax and spending package last year will shrink income to the fund, the CRFB said.

“By reducing income tax rates paid by seniors, the recently enacted reconciliation law – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) – reduced revenue flowing into the Social Security trust fund from the income taxation of benefits,” it said.

The bill is expected to cost the program about $168.6 billion over 10 years, Social Security Chief Actuary Karen Glenn estimated in a letter last year to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.

Before that, the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act, which passed in January 2025, was already squeezing Social Security, CRFB said. The law eliminated two decades-old laws − the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset − that reduced Social Security benefits for a portion of retirees who received pension income.

The law increased Social Security’s shortfall by another $200 billion over 10 years, CRFB estimated.

“As a result of these laws combined with various economic, demographic, and technical revisions, and – most significantly – years of neglect from policymakers unwilling to rescue Social Security, the program’s 75-year shortfall has grown,” it said.

What is SSI?

Supplemental Security Income is a benefit payment for those with limited income or resources aged 65 or older, who are blind, or have a qualifying disability. Children with a qualifying disability can also get SSI, according to the SSA’s website.

Adults who earn more than $2,073 from work monthly typically do not qualify for SSI, up from $2,019 last year.

SSI payment schedule for March, early 2026

SSI payments are typically issued on the first business day of the month. But since March 1 was a Sunday, March payments went out on Friday, Feb. 27.

Here’s a look at the payment schedule for the beginning of 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, 2025 (Check for July 2026)

• Friday, July 31 (Check for August 2026)

Social Security COLA 2026: Florida Social Security recipients may get hit hard with 2026 changes. Here’s what to know

How many people in Florida receive Social Security benefits?

As of December 2023, Florida had more than 5 million people claiming Social Security benefits, according to the AARP. That included more than 3.9 million retirees, over 478,000 disabled workers, more than 401,000 spouses or survivors and nearly 240,000 children.

Nearly 1 in 5 Florida retirees, family members, veterans and others receive Social Security benefits, according to the AARP.

C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Social Security payments for March, when to expect yours