Confused about Social Security start date - turning 70 in April
I'm about to hit my 70th birthday on April 29th next year and want to make sure I don't mess up my Social Security filing. I've been waiting to maximize my benefits, but now I'm not sure whether to put April 1 or May 1 as my benefit start date. Does anyone know which is correct? Since I was born at the end of April, do benefits start the first day of my birth month or the month after I turn 70? I don't want to leave money on the table after waiting all these years, but I also don't want my application rejected for putting the wrong date.
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
Social Security pays benefits for the month, so you would use April 1, 2025 as your start date. This means your first benefit payment would arrive in May 2025 (since SS pays a month behind). By using April 1, you're telling SSA you want benefits for the entire month in which you turn 70. If you put May 1, you'd actually lose a month of benefits. Make sure you file your application 3-4 months before your desired start date!
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Sienna Gomez
•Thank you! That makes perfect sense. So even though I don't turn 70 until April 29, I still get benefits for the whole month of April? That seems like a good deal. I'll make sure to file in January then to give them plenty of time to process everything.
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Abigail bergen
i put my start date as the 1st of my birthday month and had no problems. they told me you get paid for the whole month regardless of what day your bday falls on
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Sienna Gomez
•Thanks for sharing your experience. That's reassuring to hear that you didn't have any issues. I was overthinking this!
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Ahooker-Equator
Be VERY careful with the date. My husband put the wrong start date and it took 8 MONTHS to fix with SS!!! We had to visit office THREE times and they kept saying it was corrected but it WASNT! Make sure you triple check everything on your application!!!!
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Sienna Gomez
•Oh no, that sounds like a nightmare! Thanks for the warning. I'll definitely double and triple check everything before submitting.
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Anderson Prospero
For anyone struggling to reach SSA about application issues like this, I recently found a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to a live agent in under 20 minutes. I spent weeks trying to get someone on the phone about my benefit calculation issue. Claimyr called SSA for me and connected me when an agent was ready. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU or check out their website at claimyr.com - saved me hours of hold time and frustration.
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Tyrone Hill
•Did this actually work? I've been trying to get through to SS for weeks about my husband's survivor benefits and keep getting disconnected after waiting forever.
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Anderson Prospero
•Yes, it worked great for me. I was skeptical at first, but I had already wasted so many hours trying to get through that it was worth trying. Got connected to an agent who helped resolve my issue in one call.
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Toot-n-Mighty
I think your actually supposed to apply for ss 4 months before u want benefits to start so you should prob apply in january if u want april benefits just to be safe
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
•This is correct. SSA recommends applying 3-4 months before you want benefits to begin. While online applications are typically processed faster, it's still best to allow adequate processing time, especially if there might be any complications with your work history or documentation.
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Lena Kowalski
my sister just went thru this and she said u can apply up to 4 mo before your 70th and u want to put the month OF your bday not after. she got a nice sized backpay check too cause she waited till 70!
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Sienna Gomez
I just realized something else - does it matter that I'm still working part-time? Will that affect when I should start benefits or is the earnings test gone once I reach 70?
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
•Good question! Once you reach your Full Retirement Age (FRA), which is age 66-67 depending on your birth year, the earnings test no longer applies. Since you're turning 70, you can earn unlimited income without any reduction in your Social Security benefits. Your benefits will be at their maximum amount at age 70, with all delayed retirement credits included.
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Toot-n-Mighty
one other thing to consider is taxes. if ur still working ur ss will probably be taxed so make sure ur withholding enough or maybe making quarterly payments. i got hit with a big tax bill my first year on ss because of this
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Sienna Gomez
•That's a really good point I hadn't considered. I'll talk to my tax person about whether I need to adjust my withholding. Thanks for the heads up!
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