Will my Social Security benefit amount be based on filing date or approval date if I file 3 months before turning 67 and 8 months?
I've been planning my retirement carefully and have a target monthly Social Security benefit of about $4,000 when I reach my age of 67 and 8 months (which is past my Full Retirement Age). I understand the application process can take around 3 months to be fully processed and approved. My question is: if I file 3 months BEFORE I reach 67 and 8 months, will my benefit amount be calculated based on the date I submitted my application, or the date when my application is finally approved (which would hopefully coincide with when I turn 67 and 8 months)? I don't want to accidentally lock in a lower benefit amount by filing early, but I also don't want to delay getting my first payment. Does anyone know how this works? Thanks!
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Oliver Becker
Your benefit amount will be based on the month you choose as your start date, not when you file or when it's approved. When filing, you'll select the month you want benefits to begin. You can file up to 4 months before you want benefits to start, which is what SSA recommends. So you can file 3 months early and specify you want benefits to start when you turn 67 and 8 months. The benefit amount will be calculated based on that age, not when you submitted paperwork.
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Amina Bah
•Thank you! So if I understand correctly, when I'm filling out the application, there will be a specific section where I indicate my desired benefit start date? And I can put down my 67-and-8-month birthday even though I'm filing 3 months early?
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CosmicCowboy
im not sure about the exact dolalr amout BUT my sister just did this last month and she said the lady at SSA told her to apply 2-3 months early to make sure everything goes thru on time but she got the full amount for her age anyway. not sure if thats helpful lol
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Amina Bah
•That is helpful, thanks! It's reassuring to hear about someone who recently went through this. Did your sister receive her first payment right on time for her birthday month?
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Natasha Orlova
The previous responses are correct. When you file for retirement benefits, you will specify the month you want benefits to begin (your "month of entitlement"). The amount is calculated based on your age at that point, not when you file the application. SSA specifically allows you to file up to 4 months before you want benefits to begin precisely to give them processing time. Your benefit amount will be calculated based on your age of 67 and 8 months as long as you specify that as your start month. One important note: your first payment will arrive the month AFTER your entitlement month. So if your benefits start for the month you turn 67 and 8 months, you'll receive that payment the following month.
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Amina Bah
•Thank you for explaining this so clearly! That makes perfect sense. And thanks for the reminder about the payment timing - I'll make sure to account for that in my financial planning.
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Javier Cruz
I WISH EVERYONE GOOD LUCK getting through to SSA by phone to even ask this question!!! I spent 4 HOURS on hold last week trying to ask a simple question about MY application and then got DISCONNECTED!!! Their system is BROKEN and they don't care about us at all!!!
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Emma Thompson
•I had the same terrible experience trying to reach SSA by phone! After multiple disconnects and hours of waiting, I discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real SSA agent in under 20 minutes. Saved me so much frustration! They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Totally worth it when you need to ask specific questions about your application or benefits calculation like the OP is asking about.
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Malik Jackson
This is actually one of the smarter questions I've seen on here. Most people don't think about the timing aspect and then get surprised when their benefit amount isn't what they expected. Planning 3 months ahead is exactly right.
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Amina Bah
•Appreciate that! I've been reading up on SS strategies for a while now, but it's these little procedural details that aren't always clear from the official materials.
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Isabella Costa
Yep others are right, its based on the start date you choose not when you apply. My question is how did you get to $4k a month?? That's well above average! Did you max out your earnings for 35+ years?
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Amina Bah
•Yes, I've been fortunate career-wise. Maxed out contributions for about 32 years, and had several years of self-employment where I paid both halves of FICA. Plus waiting until past my FRA adds quite a bit to the monthly amount.
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Oliver Becker
One additional tip based on your target amount of $4,000: Make sure you understand how your benefit might be affected by Medicare premiums if you're enrolling in that at the same time. Also, depending on your other income in retirement, up to 85% of your Social Security might be taxable, which could affect your net monthly amount.
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Amina Bah
•That's a great point about Medicare and taxes. I've started looking into the IRMAA thresholds for Medicare, and I'm also working with my financial advisor on tax planning. Definitely important considerations!
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CosmicCowboy
wait a minute my uncle always told me that the computer system automsticly calculates your amount when u turn exact age?? so maybe im wrong about what I said before??
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Natasha Orlova
•Your uncle might be confusing a couple of different things. The SSA computer system does automatically calculate your benefit amount based on your age when benefits begin, but YOU choose when benefits begin by specifying a start month on your application. The application itself can be filed up to 4 months before that start date.
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