How to Apply for Social Security Retirement Benefits

1Decide three things before you open the form

The application asks for choices that are easier to make with a little notice. The first is the month your benefit starts. A benefit claimed at 62 is permanently smaller than one claimed at full retirement age or later, and a benefit claimed after full retirement age grows, up to age 70. Our guide to how much Social Security you will get shows the trade at each age, and the retirement calculator puts your own earnings into it.

The second is whether to have federal income tax withheld. Social Security offers withholding of 7, 10, 12 or 22 percent of each payment, so a tax bill does not arrive all at once in April. It is optional, and the choice can be changed later.

The third is which bank account receives the money. Federal benefits are now paid electronically, so the form asks for a routing and account number, and the agency's own system fills in the rest. Use an account that is in your name and that you plan to keep.

2What to gather

You do not need much, and you do not need everything. Collect these before you start, so the form goes quickly:

• Your Social Security number and the dates and places of any marriages.
• Proof of your age. The agency must see an original birth certificate, or a copy certified by the agency that issued it. Photocopies and notarized copies are not accepted.
• Last year's W-2 or self-employment tax return. Photocopies are fine.
• Military service papers, only if you served before 1968.
• Proof of citizenship or lawful status, if you were not born in the United States and have not already given it to the agency.
• Your bank's routing number and your account number for direct deposit.
• Employer names and dates for the past two years, and details of any self-employment income.

If you are missing something, apply anyway. The agency asks you not to delay because a document is hard to find. You can send missing items later, and a local office can sometimes verify a birth record with the state.

3Three ways to apply

A few situations call for more than the online form: you were born outside the United States, you have no birth record on file, or you want to claim on a spouse's or former spouse's record at the same time. The application will tell you which, and the agency can handle them over the phone or at an office.

4The online application, step by step

1. Start at ssa.gov/apply. Check that the address ends in ssa.gov before you type anything.
2. Sign in, or create a my Social Security account. Setting one up takes a few minutes, and the same account tracks your application afterward.
3. Answer the questions in order. The form asks about your work, your marriages and any military service. It fills in your earnings from the agency's own records, so you check them rather than retype them.
4. Choose your start month, your direct deposit account and whether to withhold taxes. These are the three decisions from the top of this guide.
5. Review, submit and keep the confirmation. Save or print the summary and write down the confirmation number.

The application is free. Websites that charge a fee to apply, or that ask for money before they will help, are not the agency, and neither is anyone who contacts you offering to speed up a claim. Our guide to benefit scams describes what they look like.

The application also asks about family members who may be eligible on your record, such as a spouse or children under 18. They have to file their own claims, but naming them at the start helps them avoid a delay.

5When you can apply, and when benefits can start

You can apply up to four months before the month you want payments to start. Someone who wants to claim at 62 can apply at 61 years and nine months. You pick the starting month in the application, and the agency pays that month's benefit the following month, as every Social Security benefit is paid. Our guide to payment dates explains which day the money arrives.

Applying late is allowed, and some people do so deliberately to earn a larger benefit. If you wait until you are past full retirement age, the agency can pay up to six months of back benefits, so a late start is not lost money, though benefits are not paid for months before full retirement age. If you are not sure when to start, estimate first and apply when the answer is clear, rather than the other way around.

6What happens after you submit

You get a confirmation number and a summary you can save or print. The agency then reviews the application. It may call or write to verify your identity, clarify an answer or ask for a document. It also tells you if you could be eligible on someone else's record, such as a spouse's, because the higher benefit is the one you receive.

You can check progress in your my Social Security account or by phone, and a decision arrives by mail. If approved, the letter states your benefit amount and your first payment date. If you disagree with the decision, you must appeal in writing within 60 days of receiving it. Our guide to appealing a denied benefit decision lists the steps.

If you change your mind after applying, you have up to 12 months to withdraw the application, but you will have to repay any benefits you received, including any Medicare premiums withheld. Withdrawing means you start over later with a new application.

7How Medicare fits in

If you are 65 or older when you apply, the application can also cover Medicare. If you are already receiving benefits for at least four months before you turn 65, Medicare Part A and Part B generally begin automatically, with the card arriving about three months before your birthday. If you are not claiming Social Security yet, you still have to sign up for Medicare on your own, in the seven-month window around your 65th birthday, to avoid a lifetime late penalty. Our guide to when to sign up for Medicare has the dates.

If you are still working and have health coverage through your job, ask your employer's benefits office how that plan works with Medicare before you enroll.

8If you are not ready to claim

Create your my Social Security account anyway. It lets you check your earnings record, which is the most common source of a smaller-than-expected benefit; our guide to checking your earnings record shows what to look for. It also holds your estimates and your Medicare information, and having it ready means the day you decide to apply is spent on the decision rather than on setting up access. Medicare's own window opens around your 65th birthday whether or not you claim retirement benefits.

9If you keep working

Claiming and working are not mutually exclusive. If you claim before full retirement age and earn above the annual limit, the agency withholds some benefits, and gives them back later through a higher benefit at full retirement age. After full retirement age there is no limit. Our guide to working while collecting Social Security explains the rules and the limit for the year.

11What only the agency can settle

The agency decides each claim, including whether a document is acceptable and how benefits on another person's record combine with your own. This guide describes the general process, and the details of your record may differ. For your own earnings history, check your record before you apply.