When will Social Security apply my 4% delayed retirement credit? Started after FRA but before 70

The Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs) earned in 2024 will be applied to your benefit starting with your January 2025 payment, which you would receive in February. However, the actual processing can sometimes take until March or April depending on SSA's workload. When they do process it, you'll receive any back payments owed from January onward. So if your January payment (received in February) doesn't show the increase, don't panic. It's fairly common for it to take a couple of months. The 4% increase will be applied to your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), and you'll eventually get any underpayments paid retroactively to January 2025.

THEY NEVER DO ANYTHING ON TIME!!!! I waited 8 months past my FRA in 2023 and was supposed to get my increase in January 2024. Guess what? It didn't show up until APRIL, and I had to call them THREE TIMES to get it fixed!!!! And when they finally did it, they messed up the calculation and I had to fight for another month to get the correct amount. The SSA is COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT when it comes to calculating these increases. Good luck getting yours without having to battle them!

I had the exact same situation last year. Delayed 7 months past FRA and started benefits in August 2023. My DRC increase didn't show up in my January or February 2024 payment. I called in mid-February and the agent told me they were processing DRCs in batches and mine would be in the March payment. She was right - March payment (received in April) included my increase plus retroactive amounts for January and February. One thing to watch for - make sure when they finally process it that they calculate your months correctly. They initially only gave me credit for 6 months instead of 7, and I had to call back to get it corrected.

my husban got his increase back in february last year but they owed him for 9 months of delay so maybe thats why it was faster?? the extra money was nice tho haha. we went on a cruise with the back pay!!

When I was dealing with this DRC issue last year, I kept getting disconnected every time I tried to call SSA. After my 5th attempt, I tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me through to an agent in about 15 minutes. They connected me to SSA and stayed on the line until an agent picked up. The agent confirmed my DRC was scheduled for processing in the next batch and would appear in my next payment. Saved me days of frustration trying to get through. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU if you're curious. It was worth it to actually talk to someone who could check my specific case.

you might wanna double check ur math. i think its actually 0.5% per month not 0.67%. so 6 months would be 3% not 4%. unles they changed the rules recently?

Anyone know if they pay interest on the retroactive DRC payments? Just curious.

Update: I called SSA this morning (was on hold for 1.5 hours!) and finally spoke with an agent. They confirmed my DRC adjustment is scheduled to be processed in their February batch, so I should see the increase and any back payments in my March payment (which arrives early April). The agent also verified they have the correct number of months (6) for my delay. Thanks everyone for your help! I'll update again when I actually see the increase.

Thanks for sharing your experience and the update! It's really helpful to see how this process works in real-time. I'm in a similar situation - delayed my benefits for 5 months past FRA and started collecting in November 2024. Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like I should expect to see my DRC increase sometime between February and April. One question for those who've been through this - when you got your retroactive payments, did they show up as a separate deposit or was it just rolled into your regular monthly payment? I want to make sure I don't miss it when it comes through. Also, @aa0a55660898 definitely keep that agent's name handy like Connor suggested. Even if they seem helpful, it's good to have a reference point if you need to call back!

I'm going through almost the exact same thing right now! I delayed my benefits for 8 months past my FRA and started collecting in October 2024. My January payment was the same as all my previous ones, so I was getting worried that something went wrong with my DRC calculation. Reading through everyone's experiences here is really reassuring - it sounds like the processing delays are totally normal and I should see my increase sometime in the next couple months. The 5.33% bump (8 months × 0.667%) will definitely be worth the wait! @aa0a55660898 thanks for posting this question and keeping us updated. It's so helpful to hear from someone going through the same timeline. I think I'll try calling next week to confirm they have my months calculated correctly, especially after reading about GamerGirl99's experience with them initially getting the count wrong. Has anyone here had experience with DRC adjustments for delays longer than 6-7 months? I'm curious if the longer delays get processed in later batches or if it's really just random like Isabella mentioned.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm new to this community and dealing with a similar DRC situation. I delayed my benefits for 7 months past FRA and started collecting in December 2024. After reading everyone's experiences, it sounds like I should expect to wait until somewhere between March and May to see my 4.67% increase. What really stands out to me is how much the processing timeline varies - some people get it in February, others wait until April. It's reassuring to know this is completely normal and that the retroactive payments will eventually come through. @aa0a55660898 thanks for sharing your experience and especially for the update after calling SSA! That gives me hope that I can get through to confirm my situation too. I think I'll try calling next week to verify they have my 7 months calculated correctly. One thing I'm wondering - has anyone noticed if there are certain days of the week or times that are better for getting through to SSA? I've heard horror stories about the hold times but maybe there are some tricks to avoid the worst of it.

I'm new to this community but found this thread incredibly helpful! I'm actually in a very similar situation - I delayed my benefits for 6 months past my FRA and started collecting in August 2024. My January payment was the same as all my previous ones, so I was starting to worry that something had gone wrong with my application. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been so reassuring. It sounds like these processing delays are completely normal, and the 4% increase I'm expecting will eventually come through with retroactive payments back to January. @aa0a55660898 thank you so much for posting this question and especially for the update after you called SSA! It gives me confidence that I should try calling too to verify they have my delay period calculated correctly. Based on what everyone's shared, it sounds like I should expect to see my increase sometime between now and April. I'm definitely going to try Aria's suggestion about calling Tuesday-Thursday mornings around 8-9 AM. The horror stories about hold times had me putting off calling, but knowing that others have gotten through gives me motivation to try. Thanks everyone for sharing your real experiences - it makes navigating this process so much less stressful!

I'm new to this community and this thread has been incredibly informative! I'm currently dealing with a very similar DRC situation. I delayed my benefits for 9 months past my FRA and started collecting in November 2024. My January payment was the same amount as my previous payments, so I was getting quite concerned that something had gone wrong. After reading through everyone's experiences here, I feel much more confident that this processing delay is completely normal. The 6% increase I'm expecting (9 months × 0.667%) will definitely be worth the wait, even if it takes until March or April to process. @aa0a55660898 your update about getting through to SSA and confirming your case is in their February batch gives me hope that I should try calling soon too. I'm going to follow Aria's advice about calling Tuesday-Thursday mornings around 8-9 AM to avoid the worst hold times. One thing I'm curious about - has anyone here had experience with delays as long as 9 months? I'm wondering if the longer delay periods might get processed in later batches, or if it really is just random like some have suggested. Either way, this community has been so helpful in understanding that these delays are normal and the retroactive payments will eventually come through!

Welcome to the community! As a newcomer here, I've been following this thread closely because I'm in a somewhat similar situation. I delayed my benefits for 5 months past my FRA and started collecting in January 2025, so I'm just beginning this whole DRC waiting process. Reading through everyone's experiences has been incredibly helpful and reassuring. It's clear that these processing delays are completely normal, and the variation in timing (anywhere from February to April) seems to be standard across different cases and delay periods. What really stands out to me is how important it seems to be to call and verify that SSA has calculated your delay months correctly. Several people mentioned initial calculation errors that had to be corrected, so it's definitely worth the effort to get through to an agent and confirm your case details. @aa0a55660898 thank you so much for posting this question and providing the update after calling! It's been really valuable to follow your experience in real-time. For those of us just starting this process, knowing that agents can confirm which batch your case is in provides a lot of peace of mind. I'm planning to call next week using the timing suggestions from @65c6793a02e7 about Tuesday-Thursday mornings. Even though I'm early in the process, I want to make sure they have my 5 months calculated correctly from the start. The 3.33% increase will definitely be worth ensuring everything is set up properly!