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.
This makes sense for a married couple, that the lower earner file first. The breadwinner should delay. As a single person, I waited until age 70 to start my SS benefit and have no regrets.
It depends on your financial situation. I waited until 70 and I am glad I did. My goal was to get as high a benefit as possible since I will be living from month to month on my expenses. A lot of people claim early to get as much money from the system as possible; I didn’t care about that, since if I die early and don’t get the maximum benefit, why would I care at that point?
She can get her SS and his as a survivor benefit up to age 70. Then she has to claim one or the other.
I do know of at least sixteen people who died at 65, 66 and 67. They did not choose to receive S.S. benefits until FRA. Unfortunately, they received very little in monetary benefits. One such person, the VP of our company died at 65. He was a smoker, wore boots to work which hampered his walkability, and spent all his extra money on sports cars. He worked all his life. He claimed only two checks of S S money before he passed away. One must CALCULATE the amount of money one would receive by taking benefits at 62 instead of waiting. Of course the monthly benefit is higher at FRA, but, if you do not live at least six years after you take benefits, then what good is it? DO THE MATH !!!
I waited to take mine until my job played out three months before I turned 70. I would have payed taxes on it if I had taken it early and my SS check would be a lot smaller now. I am 85 years old and welcome the income.