File complex claims in person
Q : I am finally approaching Social Security age, and I’ve decided to buck the current trend of delaying benefits as long as possible. Instead, I plan to file when I turn 62, which will be on Jan. 8, 2016. I have a 58-year-old wife who is still working. So she is out of my Social Security picture. Our kids are grown. I just want to know the basics: when, where and how do I file for my Social Security?
A : Social Security Administration computers are set up to begin taking retirement claims three months ahead of the date you want your benefits to begin. You turn 62 in January, and three months before that would be October. Normally, I’d tell you to start the process any time now.
But there is a twist in your case — and for that matter, in the case of anyone who starts his or her Social Security at age 62. There is a law that says you have to be age 62 for an entire month before you are eligible for Social Security. February is the first full month you will be age 62, so that means February is your “month of entitlement” for Social Security purposes. Three months before February is November. So I suggest contacting SSA any time after Nov. 1 to start the ball rolling. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Social Security benefits are always paid one month in arrears. So your first check — the February payment — will be sent to you in March.
Now let’s answer your questions about how and where to file. You are a prime candidate for filing your Social Security claim online. It sounds like you’ve got a very simple, straightforward situation, with no complexities. So sometime in November, go to SSA’s website, socialsecurity.gov.
At the home page, you will find a very prominent link about filing an online claim for Social Security benefits. That link will lead you to an application that will take about less than 30 minutes to complete. And that’s probably all you will need to do. Depending on circumstances, you might need to show SSA one or two documents. You may need to provide a birth certificate.
SSA may also ask you for proof of earnings for the previous year if those earnings are not yet posted in their records.
If you are wondering about 2015 earnings, they can’t be posted to your records until the end of the year. But SSA has an automated process in place that identifies earnings each year and refigures your benefit rate, if applicable. In other words, sometime in mid-2016, you will get a notice from SSA telling you that they have added 2015 earnings to your record and refigured your benefit accordingly. Any increase you might be due is retroactive to January 2016.
If you are not comfortable with computers or you just don’t want to file your Social Security claim online, or maybe you just like the idea of dealing with a real human being, then you should call SSA at 800-772-1213 — again, in your case, any time after Nov. 1.
When you do that, you will be given the option of filing your claim over the phone or setting up an appointment to talk to a “claims representative” at your local Social Security office.
Earlier, I mentioned complexities in certain Social Security situations. These are possible complications that should steer people away from their computers and filing online Social Security claims and into their local Social Security office to deal with real people. The most common complex Social Security claim today involves maximizing strategies.
Anyone who wants to employ one of those strategies, usually either filing and suspending or filing and restricting — tactics that I’ve discussed almost ad nauseam in this column — should not file online. The situations are just too messy or involve too many potential variables for SSA’s online claims-taking system to handle. I strongly recommend anyone who wants to try to maximize benefits to deal with a representative at their local Social Security office.
In fact, even if you don’t want to use a maximizing strategy, but simply have a spouse or child who is possibly eligible for benefits on your account, I recommend you forgo the online world and talk to a human being either on the phone or at your local office.