Social Security for people born in 1955, now past 70
For this cohort the waiting game is over: every month not claimed after 70 is a month lost.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
If you were born in 1955 (January 2, 1955 to January 1, 1956), you reached your full retirement age of 66 and 2 months in 2021 and turned 70 in 2025. Delayed retirement credits stop at 70, so your benefit is frozen at 130.67% of your primary insurance amount: 46 months of credit at two thirds of 1% each. Your PIA was computed with the 2017 formula, bend points of $885 and $5,336, on earnings indexed to the 2015 wage level, and every cost-of-living adjustment from December 2017 through the 2.8% increase of December 2025 has been added, a gain of 35.1% even if you never filed. Anyone in this group who has not applied should know that the SSA pays at most 6 months before the month of the application (20 CFR 404.621). A worker who earned the equivalent of $60,000 in today's pay from 22 to 62 would collect $2,850 a month.
Your formula year and the COLAs stacked on it
PIA in 2026, all COLAs included
$2,214.80
| Formula year (turned 62) | 2022 |
| Bend points of that year | $1,024 and $6,172 |
| PIA in the formula year | $1,873.90 |
| COLAs 2022 to 2025 | +18.2% |
COLAs count from the year you turn 62, even if you have not claimed yet.
Credits ended at 70, the clock did not
The delayed credit described in 20 CFR 404.313 accrues only until the month you reach 70. For the 1955 cohort that month fell in 2025, so the factor applied to your PIA is fixed at 130.67%. A person who was still holding out at 71 is not building anything: the benefit owed for each month since 70 is identical, and only the most recent 6 months can be recovered under the retroactivity rule. Months before that window are gone for good.
The practical instruction is short. File for the month you want benefits to begin and ask for the retroactive months in the same application. The first payment then includes the arrears, and the regular check arrives on the Wednesday set by your birth date (see the payment schedule).
Nine COLAs on a 2017 PIA
The formula year for everyone born in 1955 is 2017, the year of the 62nd birthday. Earnings were indexed to 2015 wages, the year you turned 60, and the cost-of-living adjustments have been compounding on top ever since. The ladder below follows a career at $60,000 in today's pay, for which the AIME is $3,444.
| Step | COLA | PIA | Paid with credits to 70 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 formula | $1,615.30 | $2,110 | |
| December 2017 | 2% | $1,647.60 | $2,152 |
| December 2018 | 2.8% | $1,693.70 | $2,213 |
| December 2019 | 1.6% | $1,720.70 | $2,248 |
| December 2020 | 1.3% | $1,743.00 | $2,277 |
| December 2021 | 5.9% | $1,845.80 | $2,411 |
| December 2022 | 8.7% | $2,006.30 | $2,621 |
| December 2023 | 3.2% | $2,070.50 | $2,705 |
| December 2024 | 2.5% | $2,122.20 | $2,773 |
| December 2025 | 2.8% | $2,181.60 | $2,850 |
The two large steps, 5.9% for December 2021 and 8.7% for December 2022, explain most of the gap between the PIA computed in 2017 and the one used today. The latest adjustment added $59.40 to this example's PIA.
Already collecting since your sixties
Most people born in 1955 filed long ago. If you started at 62 and 1 month, the cut for 49 months of early payment was permanent, and the amount has followed the same COLAs. Two decisions remain open even then: a voluntary suspension earns nothing after 70, since no credit accrues past that month; and a withdrawal is only possible within 12 months of entitlement, long past for this group. A widow or widower in this cohort may still switch to a higher survivor benefit if a spouse dies, which is covered on the survivor calculator.
When the Medicare Part B premium is taken from the check, it costs $202.90 a month in 2026, so the deposit you see is the benefit minus that premium.