Claiming Social Security at 68 in June Will Leave Half of Her Delayed Credits Off the Check Until January, and Nobody at the Agency Will Explain Why It Looks $100 Short
She waited past full retirement age, watched for the bigger check, and then found herself staring at a deposit that came up $100 short with no clear explanation from the agency about where that money went.
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She received her first Social Security deposit in July and set it next to the estimate she’d printed from the agency’s website. The estimate said about $3,320 a month, but her benefit was based on $3,220. She’d waited past full retirement age for a bigger check, and it looked like the agency kept $100.
This kind of gap often surprises people who delay benefits. Someone on Quora asked why the agency’s website says delayed retirement credits are paid in January following the year you applied when their own letter seemed to say something different. The credits are still hers, but some of them arrive late.
How Waiting Past Full Retirement Age Pays Off
Delayed retirement credits are the increase a person earns for each month they delay claiming after full retirement age. For anyone born in 1943 or later, each month adds 2/3 of 1%, which works out to 8% a year. They stop at age 70.
Our example woman was born June 20, 1958. Her full retirement age is 66 and 8 months, which she hit in February 2025. She started benefits in June 2026, the month she turned 68. That’s 16 months of credits, worth about 11%.
Why Some Credits Wait for January
Social Security says that if you start before 70, some of your delayed retirement credits will not be applied until the January after you start receiving benefits. The first check counts credits through the end of the previous year. Credits from the year you file start counting in January of the year after you earned them. The exception is age 70: if someone is entitled in the month they turn 70, that year’s credits count starting in the month you turn 70.
For her, the 11 credits from 2025 are in the check. The five from January through May 2026 are waiting. That’s about 31% of her credits, closer to a third than half. For anyone turning 68 in June, a June birthday places the biggest share on hold, and it still doesn’t reach half.
Say her benefit at full retirement age, cost-of-living raises included, is $3,000. With all 16 credits, she’d get $3,320. With only the 2025 credits, she gets $3,220. That’s where the $100 gap comes from. The agency’s online calculator estimates the amount with all credits applied, so it was never going to match her first check.
Other Deductions That Shrink a First Deposit
- Medicare Part B. Once benefits start, the premium usually comes out of the check automatically. The standard premium is $202.90 a month in 2026. For single filers with income over $109,000, a surcharge called IRMAA brings the total to $284.10 or more. If she used to pay Medicare directly, that cost has just moved into her deposit.
- Voluntary tax withholding. If she filed Form W-4V, federal tax comes out at 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22% of each payment.
- Payment timing. Benefits are paid the month after they are due, so June’s benefit arrived in July. Since her birthday falls between the 11th and the 20th, she’s paid on the 3rd Wednesday.
What to Look for in the Award Letter
The award letter lists her starting monthly amount, but the January increase is easy to miss. It’s worth checking the month benefits start, the amount before Medicare comes out, and any mention of credits counted through December 2025.
If she calls 800-772-1213, she can ask a specific question: how many delayed credits are in her current benefit, and will the five from 2026 be added effective January 2027? That gets her a clear yes or no.
Would a January Start Have Avoided the Gap?
Claiming benefits in January avoids a processing delay for that year’s credits, because all credits from the prior calendar year are already fully calculated. She’d have had to start in January 2026 with fewer credits, or wait until January 2027 and go seven more months without a check.
Her June through December come in about $100 lower each month at first, but Social Security pays that missing $700 back as a retroactive lump sum once the January credit recalculation processes. From January on, though, all 16 credits count toward her benefit for the rest of her life. Her long-term benefit stays the same.
A February Deposit Worth Circling on the Calendar
Her higher amount starts with the January 2027 benefit. Since benefits are paid a month late, that money lands in February 2027 on her third Wednesday. The 3.6% cost-of-living increase for 2027 will push it up too, so the jump will look bigger than $100.
Treating the lower check as an error and taking extra from an IRA to cover it can create another problem. Those withdrawals count as income and could drive her into a higher Part B bracket. If the February deposit still doesn’t show the five 2026 credits, call then.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
David Beren has been a Flywheel Publishing contributor since 2022. Writing for 24/7 Wall St. since 2023, David loves to write about topics of all shapes and sizes. As a technology expert, David focuses heavily on consumer electronics brands, automobiles, and general technology. He has previously written for LifeWire, formerly About.com. As a part-time freelance writer, David’s “day job” has been working on and leading social media for multiple Fortune 100 brands. David loves the flexibility of this field and its ability to reach customers exactly where they like to spend their time. Additionally, David previously published his own blog, TmoNews.com, which reached 3 million readers in its first year. In addition to freelance and social media work, David loves to spend time with his family and children and relive the glory days of video game consoles by playing any retro game console he can get his hands on.
