How soon before March retirement date should I apply for Social Security benefits?
I'm planning to start collecting my Social Security retirement benefits beginning in March 2025 when I turn 67 (my full retirement age). I'm wondering how far in advance I should submit my application to make sure everything goes smoothly and I don't miss any payments. Is applying now (4 months before) too early? Not early enough? I've heard different things from friends - one said she applied 6 months ahead and another only did it 2 months before. I don't want to mess this up since it's such an important income source for me. Also, once approved, will my first payment arrive exactly in March or is there some kind of delay before payments start flowing? Thanks for any insights!
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Liam Duke
SSA recommends applying 3-4 months before you want benefits to begin, so you're right on target! You can apply up to 4 months before you want your benefits to start. Your first payment would be in April (for March benefits). Social Security pays one month behind, so that's normal. Make sure you have your documents ready - birth certificate, tax returns, marriage/divorce papers if applicable. The online application is pretty straightforward but can take 45-60 minutes to complete. Good luck!
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Dana Doyle
•Thanks so much! I didn't realize payments come a month behind - that's really good to know for my budget planning. I have most documents but need to locate my birth certificate. Do they need the original or will a copy work?
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Manny Lark
i applied 2 months b4 and got my payment on time no problems so ur fine
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Rita Jacobs
•My brother applied with only 2 months notice and his first payment was DELAYED by 6 weeks! Had to call SSA multiple times to figure out what happened. They claimed they never received some document he uploaded online. The system is SO BROKEN and inconsistent! I'd apply at LEAST 4 months early to be safe.
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Khalid Howes
You're right on schedule applying now for March benefits. I'm a retired financial advisor who specialized in Social Security planning, and I always recommended clients apply 3-4 months before their intended start date. A few important things to know: 1. As mentioned, payments come one month behind (March benefits paid in April) 2. If your birthday isn't on the 1st of March, your first month of eligibility is actually April (SSA pays for full months only) 3. Payment dates are based on your birth date: 1-10 = second Wednesday, 11-20 = third Wednesday, 21-31 = fourth Wednesday Applying online is easiest, but make sure to print confirmation pages. The system sometimes has glitches where applications appear to submit but don't complete properly.
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Dana Doyle
•Thank you for this detailed information! My birthday is March 12th - does that mean I'm not eligible for March benefits at all? That would change my planning quite a bit if I have to wait until April.
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Ben Cooper
I think you're good applying now. When I did mine last year I waited till 6 weeks before and regretted it because they had questions about some gaps in my work history and it delayed everything by 2 months! Almost missed a mortgage payment because of it. The social security people were impossible to reach by phone too, kept getting busy signals or disconnected after waiting forever.
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Naila Gordon
•I had the same phone nightmare trying to reach SSA about my application status! After 17 attempts over 3 days, I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real SS agent in under 10 minutes. Saved my sanity! They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - totally worth it for avoiding the phone tree hell when you need to talk to someone about your application.
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Khalid Howes
To clarify about your March 12th birthday - you become eligible for full benefits the FIRST FULL MONTH you're at full retirement age. Since you turn 67 on March 12th, you weren't 67 for the full month of March, so April would be your first month of eligibility. If you apply now requesting March benefits, they'll automatically adjust it to April, or they might contact you to clarify your intentions.
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Dana Doyle
•Oh! I completely misunderstood how this works then. Thank you for explaining. So I should be applying now for April benefits, not March benefits? Will that change when I should submit my application?
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Cynthia Love
my sister said to apply RIGHT NOW becuz the goverment takes FOREVER to process anything!! my cousin waited till last minute and had to live on credit cards for 3 months before her ss finally kicked in. dont take any chances its your money!!
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Liam Duke
•While there can sometimes be delays, 3-4 months advance application is the standard recommendation from SSA. Most straightforward retirement applications are processed within 2-6 weeks. Disability applications (SSDI) take much longer, which might be what your cousin experienced. But good advice about not waiting until the last minute!
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Rita Jacobs
APPLY ASAP!! The SSA is deliberately understaffed and they WILL lose your paperwork or claim they never received something! My retirement was delayed by almost 5 months because they claimed I never sent my birth certificate (I DID - with tracking!) Then they told me I had to reapply from scratch! THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO DENY BENEFITS WE PAID FOR OUR WHOLE LIVES!!!
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Manny Lark
•chill out dude not everybody has problems. my app went fine took like 20 mins online and got approved in 2 weeks
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Liam Duke
For your April benefits (since your birthday is March 12th), applying now is perfect timing. For documents, they usually just need to see the originals if you apply in person, or uploads/copies if applying online. They'll notify you if they need anything else. Also, an important tip: Create your "my Social Security" account online before applying if you haven't already. This lets you track your application status and eventually view/manage your benefits. It's much easier to set this up before you're in the middle of the application process.
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Dana Doyle
•I just created my account last week! Good to know I did something right. Thanks for confirming that applying now makes sense. I'll aim to submit everything by the end of this week and hopefully have a smooth process. Really appreciate everyone's help!
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