Hi Larry,
I used maximize my social security to determine when to collect benefits. I started in July 2020 at age 68 1/2. For whatever reason social security started paying my benefits based on January 2020 accruals. I called and they promised that my benefits would be recalculated in early 2021. It's mid February; When in the year will benefits be recalculated. I have no confidence that this will be done correctly. Do I call? Thank you.

Hi,

I answer Social Security questions submitted to this forum, but I don't have access to our software customers' data. Software subscribers should submit questions using an online contact form in the help menu so that their questions can be answered by one of our experts with access to their data.

I don't know if this is what you're referring to, but if you claimed benefits starting with July 2020, your initial benefit rate would only include credit for the delayed retirement credits (DRC) you earned through December 2019. The DRCs you earned in 2020 would be creditable effective with your benefit payment for January 2021, but Social Security only processes those types of recalculations periodically on an automated basis. My understanding is that the recomputations to include partial year DRCs are only done once every 2 years, so if you're due an increase for DRCs you earned in 2020 you may be waiting until sometime in 2022 to actually see the increase. Social Security would, however, pay you any back pay you have coming retroactively for months starting January 2021.

You can always try calling Social Security for information, but whether or not you'll get an accurate answer is another question.

Best, Jerry