Hi Larry,

I will turn full retirement age of 66 and 4 months on February 25, 2023. How far in advance can I apply for social security benefits? When will I receive my first social security benefit check?
Thanks, Sherry

Hi Sherry. You can apply for benefits up to 4 months prior to the month you want to claim your benefits, and your first payment would be due in the month after the month you choose to start your benefits. For example, if you want your benefits to start effective with February 2023, you could apply as early as October 1 2022. Social Security pays benefits a month behind, so your benefit payment would then be due in March. And, since you were born after the 20th day of the month, your regular monthly payments will almost certainly be paid on the 4th Wednesday of each month. In other words, you could expect your payment for February to arrive on the 4th Wednesday of March (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10031-2023.pdf).

Before deciding when to start drawing your benefits, you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry