Confused about Social Security start date - turning 70 in April

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!

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

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!!!!

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.

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

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!

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?

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

Just wanted to add that you can actually check your estimated benefit amount at different claiming ages by creating a my Social Security account at ssa.gov. This will show you exactly what your monthly benefit would be at age 70 versus earlier ages, which can help confirm you're making the right decision to wait. The online account also lets you see your complete earnings history to make sure everything is accurate before you file. It's really helpful to have all this information in front of you when you're making such an important decision!

Another thing to keep in mind is that once you file, you'll typically receive your first payment about 2-3 months after your benefits begin. So if you start benefits in April, expect your first payment around June or July. This is normal processing time, not a delay. Also, that first payment might include any back pay owed from your benefit start date. I'd recommend setting up direct deposit when you apply - it's much faster and more secure than waiting for checks in the mail. Good luck with your application!

I went through this exact same situation last year when I turned 70 in June. I was also confused about the start date, but after calling SSA directly, they confirmed that you should use the first day of your birth month (April 1st in your case). The key thing to remember is that Social Security benefits are paid monthly, not daily, so you're entitled to the full month's benefit regardless of which day in April you turn 70. I filed my application in February to give them plenty of time to process it, and everything went smoothly. My first payment arrived in July (they pay one month behind), and it included the full benefit amount I was expecting. Don't stress too much about it - you've made the smart choice waiting until 70 to maximize your benefits!

I'm in a similar situation - turning 70 in February and have been wondering about the same thing! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful. It's great to see so many people confirming that you use the first day of your birth month as the start date. I had no idea about the earnings test not applying once you hit 70, so that's a huge relief since I'm also still working part-time. The tax implications mentioned here are definitely something I need to look into as well. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is such a valuable resource for navigating these complicated decisions!