Man, getting those federal benefits is great. Now make sure they keep on coming.

Don’t delay and risk missing the March 1 deadline to switch snail mail benefits payments to direct deposit or Direct Express debit cards.

Each month, 5 million checks are mailed to federal beneficiaries, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. And in Minnesota, nearly 51,000 Social Security and Supplemental Income checks arrive monthly.

That’s a lot of paper.

Sign up by calling (800) 333-1795, going to godirect.org or talking to a local federal paying agency office. The process is free, and they promise it’s quick and easy (and presumably painless).