While there's no "correct" claiming age for everybody, the rule of thumb is that if you can afford to wait, delaying Social Security can pay off over a long retirement.
The earliest you can start taking Social Security retirement benefits is 62. However, the Social Security Administration reduces benefits by 30% for people who retire at 62, meaning they receive just 70% of their full retirement benefit each month for life.
The biggest risk of claiming early
The earlier you file for Social Security, the less you'll receive each month. But it could end up being more costly than many people think. By claiming at age 62, your benefit will be reduced by up to 30%.
Assuming your full retirement age is 67, if you file for those retirement benefits at 62, you'll receive around 70% of your full retirement age benefit amount. If you file for disability and are awarded those benefits, the amount that you would receive would be 100% of your full retirement age benefit, even at 62.
Age 62. Age 62 is the earliest possible age you can sign up for Social Security retirement benefits. According to the SSA data, 22.9% of men chose this age to start to collect compared with 24.5% of women.
Filing for Social Security at age 62 could also end up making sense financially if you're worried you won't end up living a very long life. While you'll shrink your benefits on a monthly basis, by getting to collect that money sooner, you might end up with a higher amount of lifetime benefits.
You may be eligible to collect Social Security as early as 62, but waiting until age 70 yields greater benefits for most people.
He claims that doing so will give you a greater return than you would get by waiting until a later age to apply for Social Security, which means you get a bigger monthly check. “It usually makes sense to take it early if you're going to … invest every bit of it,” Ramsey said in a 2019 podcast that aired on YouTube.
No waiting period is required if you were previously entitled to disability benefits or to a period of disability under § 404.320 any time within 5 years of the month you again became disabled.
According to a recent paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, 19% of survey participants said they regretted taking Social Security too soon. Among the other top regrets the retirees had were not having saved enough, not purchasing long-term care insurance, and not working longer.
One example is the $1,000/month rule. Created by Wes Moss, a Certified Financial Planner, this strategy helps individuals visualize how much savings they should have in retirement. According to Moss, you should plan to have $240,000 saved for every $1,000 of disposable income in retirement.
Beneficiaries are currently searching for information on How Do I Receive the $16728 Social Security Bonus? Retirees can't actually receive any kind of “bonus.” Your lifetime earnings are the basis for a calculation that the Social Security Administration (SSA) uses to calculate how much benefits you will receive.
The maximum benefit depends on the age you retire. For example, if you retire at full retirement age in 2024, your maximum benefit would be $3,822. However, if you retire at age 62 in 2024, your maximum benefit would be $2,710. If you retire at age 70 in 2024, your maximum benefit would be $4,873.
You can get Social Security retirement or survivors benefits and work at the same time. But, if you're younger than full retirement age, and earn more than certain amounts, your benefits will be reduced. The amount that your benefits are reduced, however, isn't lost.
While you may have heard at some point that Social Security is no longer taxable after 70 or some other age, this isn't the case. In reality, Social Security is taxed at any age if your income exceeds a certain level.
If you are married and you and your spouse have worked and earned enough credits individually, you will each get your own Social Security benefit.
Yes, you can. Notify the Social Security Administration that you were married more than once and may qualify for benefits on more than one spouse's earnings record. They will be able to tell you which record provides the higher payment and set your benefit accordingly.
Whether you can make this switch is determined by whether your spouse is already receiving benefits. If your spouse is not receiving any retirement benefits yet, then you could technically take your regular Social Security benefit as early as age 62.
By age 50, you should have six times your salary in an account. By age 60, you should have eight times your salary working for you. By age 67, your total savings total goal is 10 times the amount of your current annual salary.
In the proposals presented to the Commission, the use of retirement bonds--and annuities based on bond accumulations- would also replace the entire benefit structure of Social Security for the future.
The above chart shows that U.S. residents 35 and under have an average of $30,170 in retirement savings; those 35 to 44 have an average $131,950; those 45 to 54 have an average $254,720; those 55 to 64 have an average $408,420; those 65 to 74 have an average $426,070; and those over 70 have an average $357,920.
But even if you never worked and therefore don't have an earnings record, you're not necessarily out of luck. If you're married (or were married) to someone who's entitled to Social Security, you can collect spousal benefits equal to 50% of your husband or wife's benefits at full retirement age.
The biggest drawback to receiving Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 is the steep financial penalty. Your monthly payment will be 30% lower than it would be if you waited until a full retirement age of 67.
Turning 62 is a big milestone for Americans. For many, it marks the end of a long career and possibly the beginning of monthly Social Security checks showing up in their bank accounts. But if you plan to apply for benefits in 2024, there are three things you need to be aware of.