I am 68 and not drawing S.S. retirement money yet . I still work full time . Thinking of retiring this year . Will be 69 in January 2021 . If I retire August 31, 2020 , how many months backward will they pay if I request backpayment (S.S. tells me it can be done ) . Also , if I wait until age 69 to retire , would these backpayments be at my age 69 benefit rate or age 68 rate? Thanks for any clarification on this matter !! Gary

Hi Gary,

The maximum retroactivity allowed on an application for Social Security retirement benefits is 6 months. So, if you applied for benefits on August 31 2020, you could claim benefits starting as early as February 2020.

If a person claims Social Security retirement benefits any time between full retirement age (FRA) and age 70, their initial benefit rate would include only the delayed retirement credits (DRC) they accrued through December of the year prior to the year they first claim benefits. Any additional DRCs accrued in the first year of benefit entitlement would be credited effective with their benefit payment for the following January.

Therefore, if you claim benefits any month in 2020 and your turned age 68 in January 2020, your initial benefit rate would be based on your age 68 rate. In your case that would mean you'd be credited with 24 months of DRCs at a rate of 2/3rds of 1%, or a total increase of 16%. Any additional DRCs earned in 2020 would be creditable effective with your payment for January 2021. If you claim benefits effective with February 2020 you'd only be credited with 1 DRC for 2020, which would mean that your total DRC increase starting with your benefits for January 2021 would amount to roughly 16.67%.

Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) would allow you to compare all of your various options so that you can determine your optimal filing strategy.

Best, Jerry