HI LARRY, I WAS BORN JANUARY 1, 1957. WHEN WOULD BE THE FIRST MONTH THAT I CAN COLLECT SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS? THANK YOU, SUSAN

Hi Susan,

I assume you're referring to drawing Social Security retirement benefits based on your own work record. In that case, you're old enough to draw reduced benefits right away, but you would need to have the required number of Social Security work credits in order to qualify (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/credits.html). And, if you're still working your earnings could prevent you from drawing benefits prior to your full retirement age depending on how much you earn. If you apply for benefits this year, Social Security would need to withhold $1 of your benefits for each $2 that you earn in excess of $17,640 for the calendar year (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html), However, you could still be paid for any month in which you earn $1470 or less (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/rule.html).

Age wise, you would have been old enough to qualify for reduced retirement benefits starting with the first month that you were age 62 for a whole month, which based on the date of birth you listed would be January 2019. However, you can't claim reduced benefits for any months prior to the month in which you file your application for benefits. So, if you apply this month then May 2019 is the earliest month that you could claim benefits. Before filing, though, you should strongly consider using our software to fully explore and compare your filing options in order to determine your best strategy for claiming benefits.

Best, Jerry