*You have several options when deciding when to start taking Social Security. You can begin as early as age 62, wait a few years for larger checks, or delay until age 70 to maximize your monthly payments.
As Yahoo Finance reports, two of the most common ages for claiming Social Security benefits are 62 and 67. For those born in 1960 or later, 67 is the full retirement age, where you’ll receive 100% of your benefit based on your work history.
Per Yahoo Finance, “Claiming benefits at age 62 will result in smaller monthly payments, but it can also make earlier retirement more manageable,” the outlet writes, adding, “One of the simplest, most effective ways to dramatically boost your retirement income is to delay claiming Social Security. Filing early will result in smaller checks, while delaying could boost your payments by hundreds of dollars per month.”
“Most people should wait as long as possible to file for benefits, but it’s particularly important for the higher earner in a couple to delay, since that’s the benefit that determines what the survivor gets,” said Liz Weston, certified financial planner (CFP) and author of “The 10 Commandments of Money,” Forbes reports.
“Starting early is a common timing mistake, especially if you think you won’t live beyond the break-even age where the larger checks for waiting more than offset the smaller checks you passed up,” said Weston.
“Most people don’t understand how long they’re likely to live and the risks if they outlive their savings,” she added.
Weston also noted, “8% per year is what you get by delaying past your full retirement age (until your benefit maxes out at 70). Elsewhere, getting an 8% return requires a substantial risk that you’ll lose money.”
EUR’s DeBorah B. Pryor previously reported, “But experts are on the fence with this, so to speak. If you’re eligible, the earliest you can begin claiming your social security money is 62. But you will only get a portion of it. On the other hand if you wait until your full retirement age, 66 or 67, depending on your birth year, you get 100%…and if you wait even later, say 70, you could get as much as 132% of your money.”
Learn more about how social security works in the YouTube clip above. Read the full Yahoo Finance report here.
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Things You Should Know About Social Security Benefits
