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I think you misunderstood what I posted. Let me repeat: if you start your benefit date a bit later than say the month you turn 66 your benefit will be higher by .67% for each month you wait to start. Work credits? That is a totally different subject.
Mathjak is talking about delayed credits when you file for SS past FRA. This does not have anything to do with work credits. You basically earn the .67% per month delayed credit, but it is not paid until January of the next year after the credits are earned.
For myself, I filed for benefits at 69+ in December so my first deposit received in January was without the delayed credits. But the deposit for February had my delayed credits for the previous year + the cost of living raise.
Let's say that someone is past FRA and decided to start their benefits. And that their benefits would be $2000 at the start of a year. And that they decide to start those benefits at the halfway point of the year. So their benefits earned would be the $2000 at the start of the year plus $80 earned in delayed benefits for six months.
But earned and paid are two different things. Social Security will only pay $2000 per month for the remaining six months. Starting in January of the next year, they will then pay the $2080 per month as the delayed credits would kick in.
I found the Social Security website itself to be very helpful in understanding the rules and methods of calculating your benefit. In fact the SS website will calculate your benefit for you if you wish.
I've noticed a lot of different terminologies used regarding perceptions about Social Security benefits so that while one may not be wrong in his/her understanding, their nomenclature might not be so easy for me to understand which is the main reason I started trying to get a grip on this several years before I wish to claim benefits. I admit, I am pretty dense at times...
Plus, and I know this may sound goofy, but on the SS site, the higher your computer screen resolution the better sense you will make out of what you see. For me at least. With all the scrolling and whatnot, I start to get frustrated trying to keep track of my goal.
When I still have a question though I always come back to City-Data which helps a lot too because eventually someone will come along in a thread and their post will make the light-bulb come on.
I disagree. First off, you don’t get a check. Everything is electronic direct deposit.
Second your benefit $$$ is not based on a whole year, but rather on the year plus months of the year when you start your payment. Unless you apply to start at age 70 when there is no gain as 70 is the max benefit. So if you start when you turn 66 you will get a certain $ amount. If you start benefits at age 66 plus 2 months you’ll get a slightly higher benefit amount for life. The gain is about 8% per year or .67% per month
I didn’t mean literally a check vs direct deposit. Be serious. Very small point to argue. But I’m not arguing about what year to take but what month to take regardless of the year. You pay tax in the whole year, so it’s more advantageous to get the SS exemption for the whole year. Some states don’t tax SS.
I think you misunderstood what I posted. Let me repeat: if you start your benefit date a bit later than say the month you turn 66 your benefit will be higher by .67% for each month you wait to start. Work credits? That is a totally different subject.
different issue .... what you gain in credit after fra is for future payments after the following january . if you file mid year you never ever see any retro for the delayed credits earned prior to january .
for those who want to know more about just what the point of january filing is , it is because of what ss calls the January rule . this is about the best explanation i have seen . it only applies to those between fra and 70 .
For Example…
Let’s say you have a PIA of $2000 at your full retirement age of 66. And let’s say you turn 66 in June of 2015. You decide to wait until you turn 68 (two years past your FRA) to claim your benefit. You would then be entitled to a 16% higher benefit. When you file at age 68, you’re expecting to receive $2320 a month but when your first payment shows up the amount is for $2240.
What happened?
Because of how Social Security sets benefits, you only receive the delayed retirement credits that accrued as of Jan 1 the year you filed. Since you filed in June of 2017, you only get 18 months credit; 12 months for 2015 and 6 months for 2016. Based on this determination, you will only see an increase of 12% to your benefit instead of the 16% owed to you. Eventually you’ll get full 16%, but not right away. You will have to wait until January 2018 to get credit for the 24 months of your delayed retirement credits. Then your benefit will increase to the expected $2320.
Underpayment?
You’ll notice that there are six months where you are essentially underpaid. From June 2017, until January 2018, you receive $80 less a month than what your retirement benefit should be. Unfortunately, there is no way to get this money back. Social Security will not make up the difference at a later date.
Age 70
For some strange reason, if you delay your retirement benefit until age 70, you will get your full 32% right away. The “January Rule” won’t apply. However, anyone filing between FRA and age 70 may lose out on some of their benefit, depending on the timing.
Last edited by mathjak107; 09-04-2019 at 04:18 PM..
Recent retirees have told me that they needed to retire before June 30th. The reason is the COLA, which is only given if you were on SS for 6 months of the previous year. If you started SS on July 3rd 2019, for example, you would not be eligible for the 2020 COLA increase, but would have to wait until 2021.
Which is exactly why you should call Social Security rather than crowd-source the answer to a really important question.
SSA puts out a guidebook updated each year that describes the programs in detail. When I called SSA with a couple of questions, they were helpful (I retired a year and a half ago at 70). The guidebook should be available here as well as other helpful docs (can't remember the exact name of it):
Be very careful with answers you get from low level clerks at ss , if it is not on the script you may be misled ..there are better sources than ss for sure
Earliest eligibility age is 62. Maximum benefit is at 70. Full retirement age depends on year of birth. While you would expect most to wait until 70 to get the max, most do not.
I didn’t mean literally a check vs direct deposit. Be serious. Very small point to argue. But I’m not arguing about what year to take but what month to take regardless of the year. You pay tax in the whole year, so it’s more advantageous to get the SS exemption for the whole year. Some states don’t tax SS.
No, you be serious a minute.
To some, maybe many people, who are old enough to know what a CHECK IS, may think in terms of actual check, as opposed to direct deposit (dd) to refer to their SS "check ". When I first started SSDI in 2003, I actually got a check in the mail. Then they went to direct deposit (dd), by then with that option. I was already on dd when it became mandatory.
OP, there's a few ",tricks " if you want to call them that. They are really variables. Heres the biggies:
A lot will depend on when you stop working, what age you are when you start collecting, when your Full Retirement Age (FRA) is, whether you want to continue working and when and full or part time, and lastly when your birthdate is. There may be more variables.
The last one is easy. If your birthdate is 1-7, you get your dd the first Wednesday of the month. 8-14, the second Wednesday, and so on. My SSDI comes( like SS would) the last Wednesday, because like this year, my birthdate IS the 25th, so i actually get it on my birthdate this year ( no special bonus, durnit!!). That is basically set in stone.
The other thing that is set in stone is that your first dd will come the following month AFTER the FULL MONTH you are eligible for SS. On the Wednesday of that following month according to your birthdate. That is to say if you sign up to start taking it in January, ( on the 1st of January), and your birthdate is the 23 of any month, you wont get your first check until the fourth Wednesday of February! So be careful if you have to rely on that dd coming in!
Same with COLAs. It may kick in the 1st of January, but in my case, i wont see that increase until my February 4th Wednesday dd.
The other things are calculated based on the above variables.
Do go to ",my social security " website, sign up and it will spell out the variables for you, or make an appointment to go to your local office to discuss.
Then theres always waiting on the phone to to talk to someone and hope they explains it to you right so that you get it.
Id make the appointment or go directly into your nearest SS office and get printouts of the "ifs and buts" of when you want to take it.
Best of luck to you....
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