I filed in the month following my 68th birthday and was told by a rep my benefit would be $2036. My letter stated a lower amount of $1965 and when I called SS a rep said I would not get $2036 until January 2022 when my DRCs from 2021 would be added. The rep said I would also get a lump sum of the difference between $2036 and $1965 retroactive to cover the remaining months of 2021. I am still working and will earn more than my lowest annual pay so will increase my 35-year average. I am not clear on when the recalculation takes place to include this and whether this will be included in the base amount the 5.9% increase is calculated on. Last week I received a letter stating my new benefit amount based on applying this to $1965, not the amount I was told I would receive as of January 2022 that includes my DRCs ($2036) and my increase from 2021 employment (probably a small increase but not calculated yet). It states I need to file a written appeal if I disagree. Do I need to file an appeal to get my benefits calculated based on DRCs and 2021 earned income, as well as getting the increase applied to those amounts? Thank you.

Hi. First off, only part of what the representative told you is accurate. Any delayed retirement credits (DRC) you earned in 2021 will be credited with your benefit payment for January 2022, but that increase will not be retroactive to your initial month of entitlement.

You can appeal if you think something's wrong, but you shouldn't expect either the increase for your DRCs or for your 2021 earnings to happen immediately. The recalculation operations that Social Security uses to credit both additional earnings years and DRCs earned in the year of filing are automated. If your 2021 earnings are high enough to raise your benefit rate you probably won't see that increase until late next year. My understanding is that the process to credit partial year DRCs is only done every other year, so you may not see that increase until sometime in 2023.

When the automated recomputations occur you will receive any back pay you are due, but the back pay will only cover months starting January 2022. Neither your DRCs earned in 2021 nor your 2021 earnings can be credited until effective with your benefit payment for the month of January 2022.

Best, Jerry