Cheated? I Delayed Claiming SS but Didn’t Get My Full Benefits

Dear Rusty:  I’m 70 now and took my Social Security benefits at age 68. Social Security would not allow me to take all my increased percentage earned by waiting until age 68 to claim.  My local Social Security office said I would get an increased amount but not my full age 68 amount because it was “not an option;” they said I could take it only the way “they said.” That’s our illegal government.  
Signed: Feeling Cheated 

Dear Feeling Cheated: Regarding your comment that SS “would not allow“ you to take all of your “increased percentage,” I assume you are referring to a Social Security rule which applies whenever benefits are claimed after full retirement age (FRA) but before age 70. That rule says that the Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs), which are earned when someone delays claiming until after their Social Security full retirement age, are applied only in January of each year. What that means is that whenever benefits are claimed mid-year after FRA but before age 70, only the DRCs earned through the end of the previous year are immediately applied, and any additional DRCs earned during the current year are not applied until January of the following year. The only exception to that rule is if someone applies for benefits to begin in the month they turn 70 (or after) when all earned DRCs are applied immediately. 

So, if you applied for your benefits to begin when you turned age 68 mid-year in 2024 (but before the end of that year), you would initially only get DRCs earned through the end of the previous year (through December 2023), and the DRCs earned in 2024 wouldn’t have been credited to you until January 2025. Which means you now actually do get your full percentage of delayed retirement credits earned by waiting until age 68 to claim, but you did not get them all until January 2025. Essentially, those extra benefits earned from the beginning of 2024 to the month your SS benefits started were delayed until the beginning of the following year.  

We run into this complexity fairly often here at our AMAC Social Security Advisory Service, which is why we counsel those who contact us about waiting longer to claim are aware of this rather obscure rule. Not to defend your local SS office, but they are required to pay benefits according to the established Social Security law. Thus, they were required to inform you that paying you the full age 68 benefits effective immediately when you applied was not an option. It wasn’t personal; they were just following the rules. 

I know this explanation doesn’t dissuade you from “feeling cheated,” but I hope understanding how SS works in this case assures you it wasn’t personal – SSA applies the same rules to all beneficiaries.

This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/social-security-advisory) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org).