Hi Larry,
I reached 66 last July. I'm planning to start receiving Social Security benefit in March of next year. I understand that for each additional month I wait, I would receive more benefit. However, when I called Social Security, I was told that for the first year, I would receive the same benefit as I had started in January of the same year. Only from the second year on, I'd get more benefit because I have waited 2 more months (starting in March instead in January). For example, my benefit amount is $1000 if starting in January, and is $1030 if starting in March. If I chose to start in March, I will only receive $1000 each month for the first year. It seems odd to me. Does such a rule exist?

Thank you!
Frank

Hi Frank,

Yes, that's true. If a person applies for benefits between full retirement age (FRA) and age 70, they are initially credited only with the delayed retirement credits (DCC) they accrued through December of the year prior to the year they claim benefits. You only receive immediate credit for all of the DRCs you've earned if you file effective with January of any year between FRA and age 70, or effective with the month you reach age 70. Any partial year DRCs earned in the first year of benefit entitlement aren't credited until the person's payment for January of the following year (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300615690).

Furthermore, my understanding is that the automated process used to credit partial year DRCs is only done in every other year. So, you may not see any actual increase in your benefit rate for your partial year DRCs until more than a year after the increase is due. You would, however, be paid any back pay due for months starting with January of the year after you started to draw benefits.

Before deciding when to claim your benefits, you may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to compare your options in order to help you determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry