ArcaMax

I doubt if any of you have ever bothered to count, but my average weekly column comes out to about 1,000 words. I bring this up because the other day, a national newspaper asked me to write a one-time Social Security column for them. They told me that wanted me to answer five questions (of their choosing) and that they would give me 500 words of space in their publication.

I politely turned them down. I mean -- I suppose I could have done it. But because there are so many "ifs, ands or buts" associated with Social Security rules, I just don't think I could have done them justice limiting myself to so few words.

I was thinking about this today when I got what many might think is a simple question from a reader. I'm going to spend the rest of this column (way more than 100 words) answering it. Here goes.

Q: I will be turning 62 on June 1, 2025. I applied for Social Security to start on that day. I was told that I was eligible for benefits in May. Why? Anyway, I assumed my first check would come in June (because I know benefits come one month late). But I just got my "award letter" and it said my first check will come in July! Can you explain what it going on?

A: Yes, I can explain. The answers are actually kind of interesting.

First, we come to a little quirk, not in Social Security law, but in general knowledge: You actually attain your next birth year on the day before your actual birthday.

For example, I was born on June 22, 1949. So as you might guess, my parents celebrated my first birthday on June 22, 1950. But if you think about it, I actually had lived one whole year on June 21, 1950. So on my "birthday," I was really one year and one day old.

Now normally, that is an interesting but useless tidbit of knowledge. Even for Social Security purposes, it usually means nothing. For example, I started my Social Security benefits at age 63 in June 2012. The fact that I actually turned 63 on June 21 instead of June 22 meant nothing to my Social Security eligibility. June 2012 was still my first month of eligibility.

But this little birthday quirk means a whole lot if you happen to be born on the first day of the month, because it means you attain your age on the last day of the prior month. And that can give you an extra month of Social Security eligibility.

Let's look at your case. You said you turn 62 on June 1, 2025. But you actually attain your 62nd complete year on May 31, 2025. May 2025 would normally be your first month of eligibility. So why will you be getting your first Social Security check in July? Well, that leads me to the next little quirk in the law.

To explain, I have to take you back to the early 1980s. Ronald Reagan was elected president. He and his advisers were sort of like the President Donald Trump and Elon Musk of their day in that they were looking for ways to cut government spending. And because Social Security makes up one-fourth of the entire federal budget, if you were looking for ways to cut federal spending, it would be a good place to start.

But Reagan and his people weren't foolish enough to unilaterally cut everyone's Social Security checks. Instead, they looked for little ways to nibble away at the edges of the program. One idea they came up with was a small cut in benefits for people who started their Social Security at age 62. The rule they put in place said that you had to be 62 for an entire month before could get your first Social Security check.

So back to your case. For Social Security purposes, you legally turn age 62 on May 31, 2025. But that is only one day of the month. The first month you are age 62 for the entire month is June. That makes June your first month of Social Security eligibility. So why won't you get your first check until July?

Well, you mentioned another little quirk in the law in your question to me. You correctly pointed out that Social Security checks come one month behind. So your first payment, the June payment, will be sent to you in July.

Did you follow all of that? Your birthday is on June 1, 2025. But you actually attain your age on May 31, 2025. You aren't 62 for a full calendar month until June 2025, meaning your first Social Security check will come in July 2025. Did I explain all of that in 100 words? Not even close!

Now I'm going to throw in one more piece of the puzzle. These rules can also come into play for people born on the second day of the month -- but only for those who start their benefits at age 62. I will use my wife as an example.

My wife was born on Sept. 2, 1944. (And please don't remind me that I married a woman who is five years older than me! What was I thinking?)

Anyway, she started her Social Security benefits at age 62. So she was 62 on Sept. 2, 2006. But because of the Reagan law mentioned earlier, October 2006 would have been the first month she was 62 for the entire month, meaning her first benefit would have been paid in November 2006.

But she got her first check in October 2006. Why? Because of that birthday anomaly we talked about earlier. She legally attained age 62 on Sept. 1, 2006. And so that meant she was 62 for the entire month of September, making that her Social Security eligibility month and giving her an initial Social Security check in October.

One final point: Please note that the "must be of age an entire month" Reagan rule applies only to those starting benefits at age 62. So if you start benefits at 62 1/2, or 66, or 70 or whatever, that little quirk in the law doesn't come into play.

Phew! The "answer" part of this column was 1,045 words!

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If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has two books with all the answers. One is called "Social Security -- Simple and Smart: 10 Easy-to-Understand Fact Sheets That Will Answer All Your Questions About Social Security." The other is "Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts." You can find the books at Amazon.com or other book outlets. Or you can send him an email at thomas.margenau@comcast.net. To find out more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features from other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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