Hello, I was approved for social security benefits 2 days ago and chose the start date to be March, thinking it would be March 1st. Now I understand the first payment wont be until April 15. I called the rep at Social Security and she told me my account had already been adjudicated so I would need to go into a local office to change the start date. I called back got a different rep who told me I would have to start the process all over from the beginning. I have not received a payment yet and wish to ask you, if I go to the office are they able to change my start date to an earlier month? Thank you

Hi,

You can change your month of election without reapplying and your nearest Social Security office can help you complete the necessary paperwork, but those types of requests can't be processed to completion by your local office. Processing of month of election changes requested after a person's claim has been awarded must be completed by one of Social Security's payment centers, and the payment centers always have significant backlogs.

Just to clarify, Social Security benefits are paid a month behind, which is why your payment for March was scheduled to be delivered in April. If you now change your month of election to February, the payment that would normally be delivered in March will likely be delayed significantly due to the backlogs mentioned above. Also, assuming that you are under age 70 and you're filing for Social Security retirement benefits, starting your benefits a month earlier will reduce your monthly benefit rate. You may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to help you decide when you should start your benefits.

If you do decide to change your month of election, your request must be in writing (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200204047#c). The form normally used for that purpose is an SSA-795 (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/public/pomsimages.nsf/gfx_num/G-SI_00502.3...$File/G-SI_00502.306A-1.pdf), but if you visit a Social Security office they should assist you with the necessary paperwork.

Best, Jerry