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 existing loans, insurance plans, and even credit cards! 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.
Can spouses who receive CSRS pension collect anything from their husbands/wife receive anything from social security after their death.