A friend of mine age 67, just started social security, since she didn't take social security at 62 she received a check from social security for the difference between her benefit at 62 and 67 in the amount of $27000 . Does this sound right?

Hi,

No, that doesn't sound right. You can only claim Social Security retirement benefits retroactively for a maximum of 6 months, so unless there was a long delay between the time your friend applied for benefits and the time she was finally paid by Social Security it's very unlikely that she could have been eligible for as much as $27K in back pay.

Best, Jerry