Social Security Payments Scheduled for March 18

Beneficiaries born between the 11th and 20th of any month are slated to receive their March payments this week.

Published: 3/17/2026, 4:38:42 AM EDT

Social Security Payments Scheduled for March 18 — A Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury on Oct. 14, 2021, in this photo illustration. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Social Security beneficiaries whose birthdays fall between the 11th and 20th of any month are scheduled to receive their next monthly payment on Wednesday, March 18.

According to the payment calendar published by the Social Security Administration, the mid-month distribution represents the second round of Social Security payments for March. The agency generally issues benefits on Wednesdays throughout the month, with payment dates determined by the recipient’s birth date.

Under the agency’s schedule, retirees and other beneficiaries born between the first and 10th of the month received their payments on March 11. Those born between the 11th and 20th are slated for payment on March 18, while individuals whose birthdays fall between the 21st and 31st are scheduled to receive their benefits on March 25.

Recipients who began collecting Social Security benefits before May 1997 follow a different payment timetable. Those beneficiaries typically receive their checks on the third day of each month. For March, that payment was issued on March 3.

Individuals who receive both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments follow another schedule. SSI benefits are usually distributed on the first business day of the month. Because March 1 fell on a Sunday this year, SSI payments for March were issued earlier, on Feb. 27.

While payments continue to follow their standard schedule, attention is already turning to future benefit adjustments. The advocacy group The Senior Citizens League recently forecast that Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2027 could remain at about 2.8 percent, matching the increase that took effect in January 2026.

“That would be the exact same as last year’s COLA of 2.8 percent, a far cry from the 8.7 percent COLA issued in 2023 to help benefits keep pace with pandemic-related inflation,” the group said in a news release.

COLA adjustments are calculated each year by the Social Security Administration using inflation data from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The agency evaluates inflation data from July through September before announcing the following year’s adjustment in October.

Shannon Benton, executive director of The Senior Citizens League, said persistent concerns about inflation and the program’s financial outlook are weighing on many retirees.

“Years of lackluster COLAs and a looming Social Security insolvency crisis, with its 24 percent automatic benefits cuts, puts a double squeeze on seniors,” Benton said in a statement.

Federal budget analysts have also warned that the program’s primary retirement trust fund faces long-term financial strain. In its most recent baseline projections, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund could be depleted by 2032, roughly one year earlier than the 2033 estimate previously issued by the program’s trustees.

If the trust fund were exhausted, Social Security would still collect payroll taxes and continue sending payments to beneficiaries. However, benefits could be reduced unless lawmakers take action to address the program’s finances.

For now, the payment system continues operating on its established schedule. The next distribution for March beneficiaries, those born between the 21st and 31st, remains set for Wednesday, March 25.