2. You Have a Shorter Life Expectancy
The government encourages delaying your Social Security benefits by increasing the monthly payments the longer you wait.
For instance, if you start claiming Social Security early, at age 62 more precisely, but your full retirement age is 66, then your monthly benefit will be around 75% of your full benefits. So if you’ve calculated that your monthly benefit will be $1,000 at age 66, you would only get about $750 at 62.
A larger monthly benefit definitely sounds great, but don’t forget that you won’t receive that extra $250 monthly until you reach your full retirement age, which in this scenario means waiting four years. Since you’d have a reduced amount of $750 monthly, you’d receive a $36,000 total amount during those four years.
And now let’s say you begin receiving an extra $250 per month which means you’ll get $1,000 at age 66. Well, you won’t be able to break even until after 12 years compared to claiming Social Security early. If you’re dealing with health problems and you don’t expect to reach the age of 78, you’ll earn more benefits during your lifetime if you decide to claim them as soon as possible.
Some basic information that every retiree needs to know in evaluating when to pull the trigger on Social Security Benefits. Thank you.
We tried but were denied.
Why can a widow not claim her husbands survior benefits if married 38 years if she worked for a City government and she only get $350 and she would receive $1000 on his side which would help her payoff the credit card debt he left her on her card-they say it is because of her City check is a little higher but that should not factor into it – she supported him for 38 years – WHY can’t she not get the beneft to help pay off the credit card?
I hope that people making the decision of when to take their social security payments know that it is taxable income(when you start receiving payments). I believe it is part of a formula, but just be aware it could increase your income taxes. So you may want to talk to/with your tax prep person or accountant????
I have worked past 16 yrs at fire depth and we do not pay into social security. So I imagine my mo benefit will be quite low even tho I made a good salary. If I wish to check my ex husband’s account to see which would be higher…how do I go about doing that? Seems they want you to do all online nowadays but don’t find where to check ex spouses numbers. (Married 16 yrs)