You should apply no later than the month in which you want your benefits to start.  You can file up to four month before that, giving Social Security enough time to process your application.  The minimum age that you can collect retirement benefits is 62.  The earliest you can apply is when you reach 61 years and 9 months.

Regardless of how far ahead you file, you will not receive your first payment until the month after your first full month as a 62 year old (Social Security is always one month behind, so you’re January benefits will be received in February, your February benefits in March, and so on).

Keep in mind, that if you have already filed for Social Security benefits, your Medicare will automatically kick in when you turn 65 unless you chose to opt out.

The earliest that you can start collecting is age 62. However, your benefit amount will be reduced if you start collecting before full retirement age (FRA).

Full retirement age for people born before 1954 is 66.  If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67.  People born in between those years have their retirement age gradually increased from 66 to 67.

*Important* Even though the full retirement age is over 65, you should still consider applying for Medicare benefits prior to your 65th birthday.  Waiting longer may cost you money.

Yes.  If you have reached your full retirement age but are not yet 70 years old, you can request that your retirement benefits be suspended.

During suspension, you earn delayed retirement credits which boost your eventual benefit by 8% for each year they are suspended (the actual amount is 0.66% monthly, so you do not need to go an entire year to see the benefit increase).  When you resume collecting Social Security, you will be locked in at a higher monthly benefit for life.

You can resume your benefits anytime before you turn 70.  If you have not resumed them by then, they will automatically reinstate at the higher amount.

If you have not reached FRA, you may request a ‘withdraw of benefits.’  This is a bit more complicated than the suspension of benefits above and requires you to repay the Social Security benefits that you have already collected.

Keep in mind, that this suspension only applies to retirement benefits.

Yes.  There are a few things that can change the benefit amount you receive each month.

• Benefit amount are recalculated each October to account for inflation.  These changes take effect the following January.
• If you make income over a certain limit, while also drawing benefits, your benefit amount may be reduced.
• If you suspend your benefits, you can accumulate delayed retirement credits which increase the future benefits.
• Your Social Security benefits can be offset if you owe money to the government.  Reasons for this could be from defaulted student loan, food stamp overpayment corrections, home loans owed to the VA, or back taxes (this is technically a levy, but the concept is similar).
• If your Medicare premiums change.  Medicare premiums for your Part-B are taken directly from your Social Security benefits.  When the monthly premium for this changes, which can happen for a few reasons, your benefit amount will also change.

Your retirement benefit is based on your lifetime earnings on which you paid FICA taxes.  Higher income means a bigger benefit, up to a certain limit.  Your benefit amount is modified by a few factors, most importantly of which is the age at which you claim the benefits.

The estimated average retirement benefit is $1,907 a month.  The maximum you can receive is $3,822 a month.  You can only be sure of the amount you will receive when you apply, but there are ways to get an idea.  The easiest is to check online at your Social Security account.  This pulls from your earnings recorded on file to give a sense of what you will be receiving.  Keep in mind that this number may change as you continue to work and will be adjusted depending on when you chose to start receiving your benefits.

To give a ballpark figure, if you were born in 1962 and averaged $50,000 annual income, never married, and filed to receive benefits starting your 62nd birthday, you would receive $1,386 each month. At FRA, you would receive $1,980.  At age 70 you would receive $2,455.

Remember, Social Security caps how much you can receive.  After a certain amount your income is neither counted towards your earnings average nor is it taxed. In 2024 this cap is $168,600.

Yes and no.  The single largest factor to the benefit amount that you will receive is based on how old you are when you retire.  You can elect to receive benefits as early as 62 and as late as 70, at which point you will begin receiving benefits automatically.  Remember, that deferring your benefits past your FRA will increase the amount by 0.66% per month, or 8% per year, which can mean the difference between maintaining your quality of life in retirement and having to cut back on certain expenditures.

The other factor to consider is that, if you are younger than your FRA, drawing benefits, and still working, Social Security will deduct a portion of your benefits if your earnings exceed a certain limit.  This limit is adjusted annually and it differs depending on how close you are to your FRA.

In 2024, at one year away from FRA, the earnings limit is $22,320.  $1 will be deducted from your benefits for every $2 earned over this cap.  So, if you have a part time job earning $30,000 a year, $7,680 over the limit, your Social Security benefits will be reduced by $3,840.

For the calendar year you reach FRA, the earnings limit is $59,520, with $1 in benefits withheld for every $3 earned over that limit.  Once you reach your FRA month, you will no longer have your benefits reduced regardless of your income and will instead have your benefits increased to recoup what you had lost due to the prior withholding.

Keep in mind that this earning cap only applies to income from work.  It does not count investments, pension, capital gains, or annuities.

Yes, most of the time.  You will still need to qualify by having 40 credits, and live in a country that not under Treasure Department sanctions (this currently only applies to Cuba & North Korea).  There are a few other countries where you can receive benefits, but only under strict conditions such as appearing personally to the US embassy every six months.

The rules are a bit different for non-US citizens who qualify when living abroad and depend on their country of citizenship.

For most people, Medicare eligibility starts at age 65.  If you are already receiving Social Security retirement benefits, the SSA will send you a Medicare enrollment package at the beginning of your initial enrollment period, which is 3 months before the month you turn 65.

At age 65, you will automatically be enrolled in parts A & B, though you can opt out of Part B if you wish.  Just ensure that you will not receive penalties if you do so.

Your Medicare Part-B premiums are automatically removed from your Social Security benefits each month.  If you are instead enrolled in Medicare Part-C or Part-D, you have the option to have the premium deducted from your Social Security benefit or to pay the plan provider directly.  I you want to pay your provider directly, you will need to contact the provider to arrange it.

If you have already enrolled in Medicare, but have not begun drawing your retirement benefits, you will instead receive bills from CMS.  There is no change to the monthly premiums for having a bill sent to you as opposed to having it pulled directly from your Social Security retirement benefits.

Yes, but only if you are over FRA.

If you chose to not apply for Social Security benefits until five months past your FRA, you can also chose to receive retroactive benefits in a lump sum for that number of months.  If you file six months or more past FRA, you can receive up to six months in back benefits.

You cannot collect retroactive payments if you suspended your benefits.  Additionally, receiving any lump sum benefit will cause the loss of delayed retirement credits for the months you chose to claim (up to 4% for a six month retroactive payment)