A few weeks ago, I wrote a column in which I casually mentioned the obscure common law (not a Social Security law) that says that you actually attain your age on the day before your birthdate. For example, I will celebrate my 70th birthday on June 22, 2019. But legally, I will turn age 70 on June 21.
I said that from a Social Security perspective, that law usually doesn’t mean anything unless you were born on the first day of the month. For those lucky people, it can mean an extra Social Security check. For example, if you want your Social Security checks to begin at age 66, and your 66th birthday is Oct. 1, you legally attain age 66 on Sept. 30, meaning your first Social Security check will be for September, not October.
Well, that little throwaway point has led to lots of questions from readers. I hope answering them will help clarify the rules.
Q: I was intrigued by your column about being born on the 1st. I will turn 66 on Dec. 1, 2018. When I file for benefits, do I have to tell them that I want my benefits to begin in November? Let me put that another way. Had I never read your column, I would have known nothing about that odd little law. Would I have missed out on one month’s Social Security check because of that?
A: No, you (and everyone else born on the 1st of the month) will be just fine. All you have to do is tell the Social Security Administration that you want your benefits to begin at whatever age you want them to begin — in your case, age 66. SSA’s computers will automatically know that you legally turn 66 on Nov. 30, and you will get your first check for November.
Q: In a recent column, you said that someone born on Sept. 1 would get a check in August. But I think you are wrong. Because Social Security checks are always a month behind, that August check won’t be paid until September. So I still don’t see the advantage to being born on the 1st.
A: Well, you are right — and wrong. I will explain. If you look back at that column, you will see that I worded my explanation very carefully to say that someone born on Sept. 1 would get a check “for August,” not “in August.” You correctly pointed out that the August check is paid in September. Without that little quirk in the law, someone turning 66 on Sept. 1 would normally get his or her first check, the September check, in October. But again, that law does exist. So there still is a one-month Social Security check advantage to being born on the 1st.
Q: You said that someone turning age 66 on the first day of the month can get benefits for the prior month. But does that same rule apply to those of us whose full retirement age is not 66? For example, I was born on May 1, 1956. My full retirement age is 66 and 4 months. So I will be 66 and 4 months on Sept. 1, 2022. Does the law mean that I will actually reach my full retirement age on Aug. 31, 2022?
A: Yes, that’s what the law means. So if you want your benefits to begin at your full retirement age, that’s what you will tell SSA. And their computers will automatically figure out that you will reach that age on Aug. 31, 2022.
Q: That was an interesting point you made about being born on the 1st. But I recall a column you wrote years ago in which you said there was some significance to being born on the 2nd. I was born on Nov. 2, 1952, and started my benefits last year. I don’t remember being offered any advantage because of my birthday.
A: There is a very limited advantage for some people born on the second day of the month. And it generally only applies to folks who start their benefits at age 62.
To explain, I’ve got to go back 35 years. In the early 1980s, Congress was looking for ways to cut back on Social Security spending. One of the plans they came up with was fairly obscure. They passed a law saying that if you took your Social Security benefits at age 62, you had to be 62 for every day of the month before you could get your first check. (The law doesn’t apply to any other age but 62.)
And now here is how the “born on the 2nd” issue comes into play. Normally, if you are born on any day other than the 1st, you would not be 62 for each day of the month. So you would have to wait until the following month to get your first check. But because of that quirky law we’ve been talking about, people born on the 2nd legally attain their age on the 1st.
So, for example, if Mary wants benefits to start at 62 and she turns 62 on Oct. 2, 2018, she can get a Social Security check for October because she is legally 62 on Oct. 1, meaning she is 62 every day of the month. On the other hand, if her husband, Bill, is 62 on Oct. 3, he would have to wait until November before he would be eligible for benefits.
Some people may wonder what would happen if Mary was born on Oct. 1. The answer is there would be no change. She would legally turn 62 on Sept. 30. But October would still be the first month she would be 62 for the entire month, so October would still be her eligibility date.
Q: Your story about getting an extra month’s worth of benefits if you are born on the 1st was very interesting. And it got me to wondering. What if you die on the 1st? Let’s say I died on Dec. 1, 2018. Do I legally die on Nov. 30? If so, then could my wife get a widow’s benefit for November?
A: That’s a very interesting question. But I think you are stretching the point a little too far. I went online and checked this common law. And it’s all about legally attaining your age on the day before your birthdate, not attaining your death on the day before you actually die.
