Larry, I turn 70 on December 31 of this year. I am in the process of completing the application for retirement benefits, intending to submit online.
I am employed by my S corporation business and receive a W-2 earnings statement each year. I file quarterly payroll returns. My question is this: Is there any way I can get "credit" with Social Security for my upcoming Q4 payroll, which normally I would submit by January 15 - in this case, in 2020 which falls after I have turned 70 and have already applied for benefits?
Thank you!

Hi,

If you turn age 70 on December 31st of this year, you'll likely want to choose December 2019 as your month of election to claim Social Security retirement benefits. That will result in receiving your full age 70 benefit rate. You don't need to be age 70 for the entire month in order to qualify for your age 70 rate. You'll have the option to claim up to 6 months of retroactive benefits, but that would result in receiving a lower monthly benefit rate for as long as you live.

Your 2019 earnings can't be used in the calculation of your benefit rate for the month December 2019, but your benefit rate can be recalculated to give you credit for your 2019 earnings starting with your benefit rate for the month of January 2020. Such recalculations are automatically processed by Social Security with no action required from you, but you may be able to speed up the process by submitting proof of your 2019 earnings (e.g. W-2 for wages or Schedule SE from your tax return for self-employment earnings) to Social Security when those documents become available. You can then ask Social Security to process a manual recomputation.

Best, Jerry