Social Security timing question - collecting in 2025 after working partial year in 2024

The benefit estimate on your statement does include the delayed retirement credits you've earned so far. For someone born in 1957, you earn 8% per year (or 2/3% per month) for each month you delay past your FRA. As for your earnings, the SSA gets wage information from employers quarterly, but the final verification happens when your W-2 is processed. Your 2024 partial year earnings won't show up completely until after your W-2 is processed in early 2025. Regarding whether your partial year will affect your benefit - it depends on your lifetime earnings history. Social Security uses your highest 35 years of earnings (indexed for inflation). If these 8 months of 2024 earnings would replace one of your current top 35 years, then yes, it would make a difference.

One additional thing to consider - if you start collecting in January 2025, your first payment would arrive in February (Social Security pays a month behind). By that time, your employer should have issued your W-2, but SSA might not have processed it yet. If you want to be absolutely certain your 2024 earnings are included in your initial benefit calculation, you could bring a copy of your 2024 W-2 with you if you apply in person, or upload it if you apply online. That way there's no delay waiting for SSA's systems to update with your final 2024 earnings.

You definitely want to make sure your 2024 earnings are counted if they'll boost your benefit! I waited an extra 3 months past my birthday to make sure my last year of high earnings was included and it increased my monthly benefit by $67. Worth the short wait!

Just wanted to point out that if January 2025 is your first month of entitlement, you'll receive 8.5% in delayed retirement credits (assuming you were born in May 1957 and your full retirement age is November 2023). That's because you get the credits for EACH MONTH you delay - not just for complete years! So from December 2023 through December 2024 is 13 months, which at 2/3% per month is 8.67% (they round down to the nearest 1/10th of a percent, so 8.6%). If you start benefits in February instead, you'd get another 2/3% for that extra month, bringing you to 9.3% total increase above your FRA amount.

I had a similar situation last year! Waited past my FRA and had to figure out the best time to file. I used the calculators on the SSA website but they didn't really help much with the partial year question. I ended up scheduling an appointment with SSA to go over my options but could never get through on the phone. Was on hold for HOURS multiple times. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in about 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent I spoke with was really helpful and explained how my partial year earnings would affect my benefit. Turns out in my case it made sense to wait until March to file so all my earnings would be counted.

dont overthink this too much. the difference between starting in jan vs feb is gonna be pretty small. like maybe $20-30 a month? just file when your ready and dont stress so much about optimizing every last penny

Based on the information you've provided, I think starting in January 2025 makes sense IF your 2024 partial year earnings won't significantly improve your benefit calculation. If you've already got 35 years of solid earnings, and this partial year won't replace a much lower year, then waiting longer doesn't gain you much. However, if you had some very low earning years in your history that this partial year would replace, you might want to wait until March 2025 to ensure those earnings are properly recorded and included in your initial benefit calculation. You can check your earnings history on the SSA website and look at your lowest earning years (adjusted for inflation) to see if 2024's partial earnings would replace any of them. That should help you decide if waiting a couple extra months is worthwhile.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you understand that once you file, your benefit amount is pretty much locked in (except for COLAs). That's why getting the timing right is so important! I filed too early and regret not waiting a few more months to get a higher amount. You CANNOT go back and change your filing date once benefits start!

Thank you all for the helpful information! Based on everything shared here, I think I'm going to wait until March 2025 to file. That will give me 9.7% in delayed retirement credits (16 months past my FRA) AND ensure my 2024 earnings are properly included in my benefit calculation. I'm going to spend some time reviewing my earnings history to confirm that my partial 2024 year will actually improve my benefit amount by replacing one of my lower-earning years. Then I'll use that Claimyr service to connect with SSA and double-check everything before I file. I really appreciate all the advice!