My wife is 66 and 9 mos. She is filing for her retirement based on her age of 66 and 3 mos in order to get 6 months' retroactive payment. I am filing a restricted application for a spousal benefit at the same time. We sent protective filing statements to our local field office via certified mail on 10/31/20 so that we could file later than Oct. Is it possible to file for 6 months' retroactive payment going back to 4/20, and receive payment in 2021? Since I'm still working we're trying to plan for tax consequences and I can shelter employment income through a workplace IRA for the 8 mos in 2021before I retire at age 70.

Hi,

If you established a valid protective filing date in October 2020, then you can potentially file your application up to 6 months after Social Security (SSA) sends you a closeout letter and still claim April 2020 as your month to start benefits. The purpose of a closeout letter is to inform a person that if they fail to file an application within a specified period of time, their protective filing will no longer be valid. Social Security normally wouldn't send a closeout letter if you follow up your protective filing with a timely application, but if you don't file soon after the protective filing is established then SSA should send a letter to closeout the protective filing.

A better way for you to have established a protective filing date would have been to make an appointment with Social Security to apply by phone. That way your protective filing would be in SSA's computer system. Your mailed in protective writing should work if it meets SSA's requirements, but getting that piece of paper associated with your eventual application may be problematic.

Anyway, if all goes smoothly, you should be able to delay filing your application for several months, which would delay receiving your first payment until 2021. But, it would be a lot safer if you actually had a protective filing date established in SSA's computer system. Meanwhile, you may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry