Social Security FRA question - Will selecting Feb 1 retirement date before 67th birthday on Feb 20 reduce my benefits?
I'm reaching my full retirement age (FRA) of 67 on February 20th this year, and I want to make sure I don't mess up my Social Security application. If I select February 1st as my retirement date (about 3 weeks before my actual birthday), will that reduce my benefit amount at all? Or do I have to wait and select March 1st to ensure I get my full retirement benefit? The SSA website is confusing me on this point. I don't want to lose money by starting benefits too early, even if it's just by a few weeks, but I also don't want to wait longer than necessary. Thanks for any clarity!
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Miguel Ramos
You're asking a really good question about the exact timing of benefits at FRA. Social Security considers you to have attained your age for the entire month of your birthday. So when you turn 67 on February 20th, Social Security treats you as if you were 67 for the entire month of February. This means you can safely choose February 1st as your start date without any reduction in benefits. You'll receive your full retirement benefit amount with no penalties.
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Ava Thompson
•Oh that's such a relief! I was worried about losing even a small percentage of my benefit. Thank you for explaining this so clearly.
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Zainab Ibrahim
my wife went through this last year!!! she picked the month BEFORE her birthday and they REDUCED her check by like 0.5% or something!!!! make SURE you talk to someone at SSA directly before you apply!!!!! the rules are IMPOSSIBLE to understand and they change them without telling anyone!!!
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Miguel Ramos
•I think there might be some confusion here. If your wife was applying before her Full Retirement Age, then yes, even being one month early would cause a reduction. But the original poster is talking about reaching their FRA of 67, and in that specific situation, they can start benefits in their birthday month (February) without reduction because SSA considers you to have attained your age for the entire month of your birthday.
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StarSailor
This is actually one of the few user-friendly rules with Social Security! You're considered to be your FRA for the entire month of your birthday. So you can definitely select February 1 without any reduction. I actually did exactly this when I turned 66 (my FRA was 66) back in 2023, and I got my full benefit amount. No need to wait until March!
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Ava Thompson
•Thanks for sharing your experience! It's reassuring to hear from someone who's been through exactly this situation.
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Connor O'Brien
I had a nightmare reaching SSA to ask this exact question last year. I spent 3 hours on hold only to get disconnected, then tried for 5 days to get through. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to connect with a live SSA agent in about 20 minutes. They confirmed what others are saying - you're considered FRA for your entire birth month. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - saved me days of frustration.
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Yara Sabbagh
•Never heard of this service before. Does it actually work? I've been trying to reach SSA for weeks about my husband's application.
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Connor O'Brien
•Yes, it did work for me. Saved hours of waiting on hold. The agent confirmed I could start benefits in my birth month with no reduction.
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Keisha Johnson
im confused about something here. if your turning 67 in feb why not just wait til 70 for the delayed credits? my brother waited til 70 and gets a lot more money. just sayin
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Miguel Ramos
•That's certainly an option and waiting until 70 gives you an 8% increase per year (so about 24% more than at FRA). But that's a personal decision based on financial needs, health, and other circumstances. The original question was specifically about selecting February 1st vs. March 1st when turning 67 in February, not about delaying benefits further.
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Ava Thompson
•I've actually thought about waiting longer, but I have some health concerns and want to make sure I enjoy some retirement while I'm still feeling relatively good. It's definitely a personal decision as the previous commenter mentioned.
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Paolo Rizzo
So if I'm understanding this right, this thing where you're considered your FRA age for the whole month only applies to the month you actually reach FRA? Like if someone's turning 67 in February, they're considered 67 for all of February, but NOT for January, right? Just double-checking because I'm hitting FRA next year.
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Miguel Ramos
•Correct. The rule only applies to your birth month. If you applied in January when your birthday is in February, you would be considered one month early and would have a slight reduction (about 0.56% for one month). But once you reach your birth month, you're considered to be your full retirement age for that entire month.
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Ava Thompson
Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I'm going to go ahead and select February 1st as my start date. One more question - does this same rule apply for Medicare? I already signed up for that when I turned 65.
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StarSailor
•Medicare has a similar but slightly different rule. If you were born on the 1st day of the month, your Medicare would start the month before your birthday month. For all other birthdays, Medicare coverage starts on the 1st day of your birthday month. So for your February 20th birthday, Medicare would have started February 1st of the year you turned 65. Sounds like you've already got that covered though!
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Yara Sabbagh
I remember when my wife hit FRA and we were so confused about all this... we ended up waiting an extra two months because we were afraid of getting reduced benefits! wish i had known about this birthday month rule back then! could have gotten two more months of payments...
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Elliott luviBorBatman
•That's exactly why I wanted to ask this question here before applying! It's frustrating how confusing the SSA rules can be. I'm sorry you missed out on those two months of payments - that must have been disappointing to learn about later. Hopefully sharing experiences like yours and this thread will help other people avoid the same mistake.
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Santiago Diaz
This is such valuable information! I'm turning 67 in June and was planning to wait until July to be "safe" but now I understand I can start benefits on June 1st without any reduction. The birthday month rule really should be explained more clearly on the SSA website - it would save so many people from confusion and potentially missing out on benefits they're entitled to. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences here!
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CosmicCruiser
•Absolutely agree! The SSA website could definitely be clearer about this rule. I'm glad this discussion helped clarify things for you too. It's amazing how many people end up waiting longer than necessary or worrying about timing when the birthday month rule actually makes it pretty straightforward once you understand it. Good luck with your June application!
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GalacticGuru
This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a Social Security claims specialist and want to emphasize that everyone here giving advice about the birthday month rule is absolutely correct. This is codified in SSA regulations - specifically, you're deemed to attain your age on the day before your birthday for the entire month. So Ava, you can confidently select February 1st without any benefit reduction. One tip: when you apply online, the system will actually guide you to the correct earliest eligible date based on your birthday, which should confirm February 1st is fine. The confusion often comes from people mixing up early retirement rules (before FRA) with FRA timing rules. At FRA, the birthday month rule is your friend!
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Marilyn Dixon
•Thank you so much for the professional confirmation! As someone new to navigating Social Security, it's incredibly reassuring to hear from an actual claims specialist that all the advice here is accurate. I really appreciate you mentioning that the online system will guide me to the correct date - that gives me extra confidence that I won't accidentally make a mistake when I apply. It's also helpful to understand the distinction between early retirement rules versus FRA timing rules, since that seems to be where a lot of the confusion comes from. Thanks to everyone in this thread for making what seemed like a complicated question so much clearer!
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Ali Anderson
As someone who just went through this process myself last month, I can confirm what everyone is saying! I turned 67 on January 15th and was able to start my benefits on January 1st with no reduction whatsoever. The birthday month rule is real and it works exactly as described here. What really helped me was calling SSA early in the morning (around 8 AM) when the wait times were shorter. The representative I spoke with was very clear that as long as you reach FRA sometime during the month, you can start benefits on the 1st of that month. She even mentioned that this is one of the most common questions they get, so don't feel bad about being confused - you're definitely not alone! The peace of mind from getting official confirmation was worth the phone call.
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Amaya Watson
•Thank you for sharing your recent experience, Ali! It's so helpful to hear from someone who literally just went through this exact situation last month. Your tip about calling early in the morning is great - I'll definitely try that approach when I'm ready to apply. It's reassuring to know that this is such a common question that the SSA representatives are well-prepared to answer it clearly. Sometimes you worry you're asking something obvious, but it sounds like many people have the same concerns about timing. I feel much more confident now about selecting February 1st as my start date. Thanks to you and everyone else who took the time to share their knowledge and experiences!
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Destiny Bryant
I'm so glad I found this thread! I'm in almost the exact same situation as Ava - I turn 67 on February 28th this year and have been agonizing over whether to select February 1st or wait until March. Reading everyone's explanations about the birthday month rule has been incredibly enlightening. I had no idea that Social Security considers you to have reached your FRA for the entire month of your birthday. This makes so much more sense than what I was trying to decipher from the official SSA materials. Thank you to Miguel, StarSailor, the claims specialist, and everyone else who took the time to explain this clearly. It's amazing how much stress this has relieved - I was literally losing sleep over potentially making the wrong choice and losing benefits. Now I feel confident moving forward with February 1st as my start date!
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