Key Social Security Dates Explained

ByDaria Kelly Uhlig

Social Security is a vital source of income for retirees, but it’s a complicated system with rules and requirements many pre-retirees don’t understand. Last year’s Retirement Savings and Spending Study from T. Rowe Price found that 71% of workers ages 50 to 61 didn’t know their full retirement age, for example, and 42% erroneously believed benefits automatically start at age 65 unless you claim earlier. And about one-third weren’t aware that retirement benefits adjust for inflation.

Some of the most important things you need to know about Social Security involve schedules, timelines and deadlines. Understanding them and their associated dates is the best way to get the benefits you’re entitled to when you need them, so you can effectively manage your budget.

Important Dates for Applying for Social Security

Here are dates to keep in mind as you approach the age you want to start collecting benefits.

  • Four months before you want to receive your first check: This is the earliest you can apply.
  • Your 62nd birthday: Sixty-two is the earliest age you can start collecting social security. Applying early, before your full retirement age, reduces your monthly payment.
  • Your 67th birthday: The full retirement age is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. This is the age at which you collect your full benefit. If you were born in 1959, your full retirement age is 66 years and eight months. Anyone born earlier than 1959 has already reached full retirement age.
  • Your 70th birthday: You can earn delayed retirement credits if you delay your benefits past your full retirement age. The credits add 8% per year to your annual benefit, but you stop earning them at age 70.

Important Dates for Receiving Your Social Security Payments

Social Security payments always come out on Wednesdays, but which Wednesday yours goes out depends on your birthdate.

  • Second Wednesday of the month if you were born on the 1st through the 10th of the month
  • Third Wednesday if you were born on the 11th through the 20th of the month
  • Fourth Wednesday if you were born on the 21st through the 31st of the month

Important Dates for Cost-of-Living Increases

The Social Security Administration adjusts benefits for inflation. The adjustment is called a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, and it’s based on a comparison between the average monthly Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the third quarter of one year and the CPI-W for the third quarter of the next.

The third quarter includes the months of June, July and August. The average for the third quarter of 2023 was 301.236, for example, and the average for the third quarter of 2024 was 308.729 – a 2.50% increase resulting in a 2.50% COLA.

The important COLA-related dates to know are:

  • October, which is when the SSA announces the upcoming COLA
  • December, which is when the new COLA goes into effect. December payments come out in January, so that’s when you’ll see the increase.

It’s worth noting that COLAs are not guaranteed – if the CPI-W doesn’t change from the previous year to the current one, there won’t be a COLA in December. However, in the 50 years that COLAs have been based on the CPI-W, there’ve been just three years with no benefit increase, and benefits have never been adjusted downward.

More from Nifty50+


Daria has over 15 years of experience as a service journalist covering personal finance and other topics. Her work has been featured on GOBankingRates, WSJ Buyside, Fox Business and USA Today. Daria earned a degree in communications from Centenary University, in her home state of New Jersey. She lives on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where she's also a photographer and avid kayaker.

Related Stories