Social Security application timing at 70 - will my birthday affect payment date?

You've got it mostly right. You can apply up to 4 months before you want benefits to begin. Since you're turning 70 in February, you would apply in October/November to start benefits in February. Your first payment for February would arrive in March, since Social Security pays a month behind. And yes, waiting until 70 maximizes your retirement benefit amount with the delayed retirement credits. As for your actual birth date - it doesn't affect when your monthly payments start, but it does determine WHICH DAY of each month you'll receive payments going forward. Since you were born on the 2nd, you'll receive payments on the second Wednesday of each month. SSA payment schedule works like this: - Born 1st-10th: Second Wednesday - Born 11th-20th: Third Wednesday - Born 21st-31st: Fourth Wednesday

I went through this exact process last year when I turned 70! Yes, you should apply 3 months before - but I'd recommend going ahead and applying 4 months early just to be safe. The SSA can be REALLY slow sometimes processing paperwork. My cousin applied just 2 months before and his first payment was delayed by almost 6 weeks because they were backlogged!! One thing nobody told me - make sure you have certified copies of ALL your documents ready (birth certificate, marriage certificate if applicable, etc.) because if they need to verify anything and you don't have the right documents, it can cause major delays. I had to order a new birth certificate and it took FOREVER.

I applied online and it was pretty straightforward except for uploading the documents - that part was confusing. But I've heard going to the office in person can take HOURS of waiting. Some of my friends had to go multiple times because they didn't bring the right stuff the first time!

The SSA website says applying at 70 is easy but its NOT!! I applied 3 months b4 turning 70 but didnt get payment on time cuz they needed more info but never told me!! Had to call them 5 TIMES and got disconnected every time. Finally got thru after waiting 2 HOURS on hold. Such a nightmare dealing with SS.

I think there's some confusion in this thread about how the payment schedule works. Your date of birth determines which payment schedule you're on, but EVERYONE receives their first payment the month after benefits begin, regardless of birth date. So if your benefits start February 1st, your first payment will arrive in March. Also important - you should know that your benefit amount at 70 is 32% higher than it would have been at your full retirement age (assuming you were born between 1943-1954 with an FRA of 66). Each year you delayed past FRA earned you 8% in delayed retirement credits, which is a significant boost to your lifetime income.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful information! I think I'll go ahead and submit my application next week (4 months early as suggested) just to be safe. I've checked and I do have my certified birth certificate and all my other documents ready. One last question - if I've been working full-time up until now, do I need to provide any special information about my most recent earnings? I want to make sure those get calculated into my benefit amount.

My husband messed this up last year - he thought he needed to wait until AFTER his 70th bday to apply. Turns out you want your benefits to START the month you turn 70, which means applying 3-4 months BEFORE. He lost about $4200 by waiting too long!! So youre smart to be checking on this ahead of time.

One more tip since you mentioned you've been working full-time: If your recent earnings years are higher than some of your earlier working years, those higher earnings years will replace lower earning years in the calculation of your benefit. SSA uses your highest 35 years of earnings (indexed for inflation) to calculate your benefit. This can give your final benefit amount a nice boost if you've been earning more in recent years.