Pensioners will be recalculated in May — to whom the pension will be increased and how the payment schedule will change

In May 2026, some Russian pensioners are waiting for recalculation of payments and one-time surcharges. Who will get a pension increase and what changes in the payment schedule will occur due to the holidays, says Channel Five.

Who will receive a pension increase in May 2026

The increase in payments will affect several categories of pensioners, and in most cases it occurs automatically through the Social Fund of Russia.

80-year-old pensioners and disabled people of group I

Pensioners who turned 80 in April, as well as citizens who received disability group I, will receive a doubling of the fixed payment to the insurance pension.

In 2026, the fixed payment is about 9.5 thousand rubles, respectively, after doubling — about 19 thousand rubles. Recalculation is carried out automatically, without applications.

If the doubling has already been assigned for one reason (for example, disability), there is no re-increase upon reaching the age of 80.

Pilots and miners

Separate surcharges are provided for retired former employees of the coal industry and civil aviation.

These payments:

• depend on the length of service and earnings;
• are formed at the expense of insurance premiums of employers;
• recalculated several times a year.

The size of such allowances is individual.

Participants and invalids of the Great Patriotic War

For this category, one-time payments are provided in the amount of ten thousand rubles by 9 May, which are accrued automatically and do not require applications.

When will the money arrive

Alarming messages about the cancellation of May pensions have already begun to spread online. In fact, no one cancels anything, just because of the long holidays, payments are shifted according to schedule.

On weekends and non-working days, the pension is not credited to the card. There are 12 such days in May: 1-3, 9-11, 16-17, 23-24 and 30-31. If the payment falls on a day off, it is transferred to the previous working day.

So, if you receive a pension on a bank card in the first days of the month (from the first to the fourth day), then the money for May will be transferred ahead of schedule — on April 30. As a result, two amounts will be credited to the account in April: the usual April pension and the May advance. And in May there will be no payment — it was received in advance.

All types of pensions, including insurance, social and funded, as well as old-age and disability pensions, will be paid ahead of schedule. You do not need to submit an application for this — the funds will come automatically.

Other payments from the Social Fund will be transferred ahead of schedule. The delivery of pensions through banks will resume according to the usual schedule from May 5.

Pensioners whose payments are delivered by the Russian Post will receive money for May on the usual dates. Postmen will start bringing pensions to the house on May 2-3, and from the same time it will be possible to collect a pension at the cash desk of the post office. The delivery of pensions by mail will continue until May 25.

The exact date of receipt of the pension depends on the region and the bank. You can specify it by calling the hotline of the local branch of the Social Fund of Russia. In some regions, the payment schedule is available on the websites of local branches.

How to get retirement savings right away

Some Russians can receive their pension savings not in stages, but in a single amount. Entrepreneur Sergey Malikov told the Prime agency about the cases in which this is possible.

According to him, a lump sum payment is available to those citizens whose funded pension does not exceed 10% of the pensioner's subsistence level. In 2026, this figure is set at 16,288 rubles. Thus, if the estimated monthly payment amount is less than 1 628.8 rubles, pension savings can be issued in full in one amount.

The expert clarified that citizens who have reached retirement age but have not gained the required length of service or pension points to receive an insurance pension also have the right to receive the entire amount at once.

According to him, the maximum amount of a lump sum payment in 2026 may reach approximately 440 thousand rubles.

If pension savings were formed at the expense of additional contributions — for example, under the state co—financing program or using maternity capital - a citizen can choose urgent payments for a period of 10 years.

You can apply for funds through the Gosuslugi portal, the personal account of the Social Fund of Russia, or directly at the organization where the savings were formed.