Many beneficiaries will receive double payments in certain months this year, with other months seeing no disbursement at all.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients will not receive a payment in March, a shift caused by a calendar quirk rather than a reduction in benefits.
Because March 1 falls on a Sunday, the Social Security Administration will instead issue those benefits early on Friday, Feb. 27.
Supplemental Security Income will be disbursed earlier than usual. The payment schedule is expected to return to its normal routine in April.
This trend of early disbursements has defined the start of 2026, as the New Year’s Day holiday pushed January benefits into late December and a Sunday on Feb. 1 moved February checks to Jan. 30.
Despite the timing changes, beneficiaries will receive all anticipated funds.
For the 2026 cycle, the maximum monthly SSI benefit is $994 for individuals and $1,491 for couples, though the average payment is approximately $737, according to the Social Security website.
The scheduling shift only applies to SSI, which typically serves people 65 and older with limited income or those with disabilities.
Regular Social Security payments remain birth-date dependent.
Recipients born between 1 and 10 receive payments on the second Wednesday of the month; those born 11 through 20 are paid on the third Wednesday; and those born 21 through 31 receive funds on the fourth Wednesday.
Recipients who began receiving Social Security before May 1997, or those collecting both Social Security and SSI, are paid on a separate cycle where Social Security arrives on the third of the month and SSI arrives on the first, according to Money.com.
Beneficiaries should prepare for several more months with double payments followed by months with no checks later this year.
SSI recipients will receive two payments in July — one on July 1 and a second on July 31 — resulting in no payment during August.
October will also see two payments, on Oct. 1 and Oct. 30, leaving November without a check. The year concludes with payments on Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, with the latter serving as the benefit for Jan. 1, 2027.