I’m planning on retiring and applying for SS payments on my birthday 09/02/2018 at the age of 66. Do I automatically get retroactive SS payments starting on 01/01/2018?And, how does this effect the limit of $45,360 and reduce my payments if I make $90,000 income by 12/31/2018? Muchos Gracias

Hi,

No, you won't get any retroactive payments if you file at your full retirement age of 66. You would only potentially get back pay if you filed after reaching age 66, in which case you could claim benefits up to the lesser of 6 months retroactively or back to the month that you reached age 66.

You could file an application now and make it effective with January 2018, but that would at least initially reduce your benefit rate and $1 of your benefits would be withheld for every $3 that you earn in excess of $45,360 from January through August (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html).

You should strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website in order to determine your best filing strategy.

Best, Jerry