Sometimes, claiming Social Security early is not such a bad idea.
Your retirement planning probably includes receiving Social Security benefits. Starting to collect these benefits might have a major impact on your planning. You can collect Social Security benefits as early as age 62, but you must know that you won’t receive the full amount of benefits from the Social Security Administration.
You can only do this once you reach your full retirement age (FRA) which you can calculate here. If you start your benefits after your FRA, you can earn greater benefits by receiving delayed retirement credits.
Claiming Social Security early or delaying retirement benefits is up to you. There’s no right or wrong answer since every individual’s life is different. Before you make this decision, you must take into consideration several factors such as current health and cash needs, family longevity, whether you have other sources of income and so on.
While some people can afford to delay their retirement benefits, others may find that getting them early may be the best financial decision. If you think that you’re rather in the second category, we have a list of 8 reasons why claiming Social Security early is not such a bad idea.
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)