I am a male born in 1955 and am currently applying for my SS retirement benefit. A few weeks after making my application online I received an email from the SSA saying I needed to talk to an intake agent before my application could be further processed. When I contacted the agent the reason was that they wanted me to take my benefit 4 months earlier than I requested. The agent actually implied that I was stupid for not doing this and "was leaving money on the table". WHY would they do this and is this the SSA's normal operating procedure?

Hi. I worked for Social Security for 36 years as a claims representative and technical expert, so I can respond to your question based on personal experience. It is normal operating procedure for a claims representative to explain what filing options are available to people when they apply for benefits, but employees are not supposed to advise people or try to unduly influence their decisions. So, it sounds like the representative you dealt with was definitely overstepping their bounds when they spoke with you.

That said, there are times when filing for benefits retroactively can be advantageous, but I don't have enough details about your circumstances to know what might be best for you. Most likely, though, starting your benefits 4 months earlier than you planned to would simply mean receiving some back pay in return for a 2% to 3% reduction in your permanent monthly benefit rate.

Choosing the best possible month to start your benefits can be very complicated, so you may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry