Editorial policy

Payment dates affect how people pay rent and buy groceries, so we hold ourselves to a simple standard: every date and rule on DepositDays must come from an official source, and we show you which one.

1. Rules come from official sources only

• Social Security and SSDI: Social Security Handbook §121 and SSA's published payment calendars.
• SSI: Social Security Handbook §121.5 and SSA's weekend and holiday FAQ.
• VA compensation and pension: 38 U.S.C. §5120(e) and Veterans Benefits Administration guidance.
• Federal holidays: 5 U.S.C. §6103, with the standard observed-day rule (Saturday holidays observed Friday, Sunday holidays observed Monday).
• SNAP: each state's own SNAP agency. We publish a state only after we verify its schedule on the official state website, and we record the source and date.
• Tax refunds: IRS-published timelines only. The IRS has no refund calendar, so we never publish one.
• COLA: only figures officially announced by SSA. Anything else is labeled as an estimate.

2. Dates are calculated, not typed

Our date engine applies these rules to the federal holiday calendar for any year. That means a date can't be mistyped, and next year's schedules are produced the same way as this year's.

3. Tested against official calendars

Before every release, automated tests compare the engine with SSA's official 2026 and 2027 payment calendars: every SSI date, every 3rd-of-month date and every 2nd, 3rd and 4th Wednesday date. A release is blocked if a single date differs.

4. Reviews and corrections

We re-check the rules and sources at least every quarter and whenever an agency announces a change. The "Last verified" date on each page shows the latest check (currently November 3, 2026). If you spot an error, contact us and we will correct it and note the change.

5. Independence

Ads and affiliate partners never influence our dates or explanations. Affiliate links appear only in a labeled box on tax and budgeting pages and are marked as sponsored.