Personal Finance

Will Social Security Automatically Enroll You At 70?

Maurie Backman

Published: February 10, 2025 2:48 pm

One nice feature of Social Security is that it doesn’t lock all seniors into one specific filing age. You can claim benefits as early as age 62. But you’ll need to wait until your full retirement age (FRA) arrives to collect your complete monthly benefit based on your earnings record. If you file before then, you’ll be looking at a permanent reduction to your monthly checks.

There’s also the option to delay your Social Security claim past FRA. For each year you do, your monthly benefits get an 8% boost. And that boost stays in place forever. So if you end up living a long life, a delayed filing can result in a lot more Social Security income overall.

However, you should know that the delayed retirement credits you can rack up for a postponed filing run out at age 70. So there’s no sense in delaying your Social Security claim beyond that point.

But that doesn’t mean that Social Security will automatically start sending you your money at age 70, either. And if you don’t sign up at that point, you risk losing out big time.

Don’t assume things will happen automatically

Because you get a choice in when to sign up for Social Security, there’s no such thing as automatic enrollment.

If you’re on Social Security at the time you become eligible for Medicare, you’ll be automatically enrolled in Parts A and B. But you can be on Medicare without being on Social Security. And you won’t automatically be signed up for Social Security just because you’re on Medicare.

Now you’d think that Social Security enrollment would be automatic once people turn 70, since there’s no financial incentive to delay a claim beyond that point. But that’s not the case.

If you don’t sign up for Social Security at age 70, you won’t start getting benefits. It’s that simple. So you might as well mark your calendar to file for benefits in conjunction with your 70th birthday. There’s zero upside to waiting.

When you missed the boat

Because there’s a lot of misinformation about Social Security out there, you may have been led to believe that you’d be signed up for benefits automatically at 70. So if you’re beyond age 70 and have yet to receive any of your money, your best bet is to file for benefits right away.

The good news is that Social Security will pay up to six months of retroactive benefits. If you neglect to sign up for Social Security at age 70 but realize your mistake at 70 and 1/2, you won’t be out any money. But the longer you wait to claim benefits, the more you risk a scenario where you forgo payments you could’ve received.

That’s why it’s important to know the ins and outs of Social Security. But also, it’s a good idea to work with a financial advisor to address elements of retirement planning like this.

A financial advisor can explain the rules of Social Security so you know when it’s best to sign up. They can also help you avoid a mistake that causes you to lose out on valuable retirement income.