Social Security Pensions Land on 6 November and CGA Pensions, Christmas Bonus Included, on the 19th: Every Benefit Payment Date for November 2026

Segurança Social (Social Security) has published its payment calendar for November 2026, and the first date most households will notice comes early: old-age, disability and survivors' pensions paid by the general scheme reach bank accounts on Friday 6 November. In September and October pensions were paid on the 8th, which this month falls on a Sunday. Public-sector pensioners paid by the Caixa Geral de Aposentações (CGA, the civil service pension fund) are paid on Thursday 19 November, and that payment carries their Christmas bonus.

The dates below are taken from the payments page on the Segurança Social portal and the CGA's own payments page. Sunday 1 November is All Saints' Day, a public holiday; no payment in the calendar falls on it.

Segurança Social: the November dates

• Tuesday 3 November: occupational disease (doença profissional) pensions and allowances.
• Friday 6 November: pensions; the Prestação Social para a Inclusão (disability benefit); the Complemento Solidário para Idosos (solidarity supplement for older people); and refunds of funeral expenses.
• Monday 16 November: family benefits (prestações familiares, the group that includes abono de família, child benefit), and the first payment run for unemployment, sickness, parental and social action benefits.
• Friday 20 November: the Fundo de Garantia de Alimentos Devidos a Menores (the fund that pays child maintenance when a parent does not).
• Monday 23 November: the Rendimento Social de Inserção (RSI, minimum income), the Fundo de Garantia Salarial (wage guarantee fund, for workers owed pay by an insolvent employer) and the allowance for suspended cultural activity.
• Friday 27 November: the second payment run for unemployment, sickness, parental and social action benefits, and the informal carer allowance (Subsídio de Apoio ao Cuidador Informal).

Most of these are paid by bank transfer or by postal order (vale de correio). The wage guarantee fund and the cultural activity allowance are listed for bank transfer only.

CGA: pensions and the Christmas bonus on the 19th

The CGA pays its pensions on the 19th of each month or the working day before. Its page says the subsídio de Natal (Christmas bonus) is paid in November, so it arrives with the 19 November pension. The CGA's one-off death grants and funeral refunds are paid on Mondays: 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 November. Its December pension date is Friday 18 December.

Tax withheld from November pensions is also changing: see our report on the halved IRS withholding in November, Christmas bonus included.

What it means for you

If you receive a benefit, you can see what has been paid, and when, in your own area of Segurança Social Direta (the online portal) or the Segurança Social app, logging in with your NISS (social security number) or email address. The same area holds the bank account page, where you can check or change the IBAN your payments go to. If you have recently moved banks, check it before the payment date that matters to you. CGA pensioners can see their monthly pension slips in CGA Directa.

Be wary of messages about your payments. On 21 October Segurança Social warned of a wave of fake text messages claiming that benefits had been "suspended" and asking recipients to click a link. It says it never sends links by SMS or email to settle problems or ask for data, and that the fake texts can appear in the same thread as its genuine ones. Check anything about your benefits only after logging in to the portal or the app.