Professor Kotlifoff,
I'm a Maxifi user. I turned 70 this month. I applied for Social Security on January 13, 2022, wanting to have the maximum possible benefit. When I applied, the earliest date that the online application allowed was for May. I thought I would be eligible for my max benefit in April and get the first check in May. SSA says my first check will be June 8. I talked to an SSA rep who said that June 8 should be the correct date. A close friend who is turning 70 soon, got told the opposite. He says that he is eligible the month he turns 70 and will get his first check the month after. Who is correct? If my friend is correct, how can I get SSA to give me an extra check? I read in your book "Money Magic," that you had talked to folks who were 75 and had not yet applied for Social Security. You said they could get 6 months of payments in arrears. That being the case, it seems like I ought to get one month if I am really owed it.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.

Fred

Hi Fred. I answer the questions submitted to this forum, but I don't have access to our software customer's data. Software customers should submit their questions using the help menu in the software. That way their questions can be answered by one of our experts with access to the data that they've entered into the software.

You say that you turned 70 this month (i.e. April), so assuming that your birthday is sometime between April 2nd and May 1st then you should have chosen April as your month to start your benefits. You would then be due your first check in May (i.e. for April). However, if you chose May on your application instead of April, then Social Security won't pay you for April unless you change your month of election (MOE).

You can ask Social Security to change your MOE, but your request must be in writing and must be signed (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200204047#c). The form typically used for that purpose is an SSA-795 (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-795.pdf). You can complete and submit that form to your servicing office (https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp), but you may first want to call the office and discuss with them what you want to do . Hopefully, they can give you instructions on how to best direct the form so that your request is handled as expeditiously as possible.

Best, Jerry