When Should You Take Social Security Benefits?

The Social Security Administration reports that nine out of 10 individuals age 65 and older receive benefits. This presents the question, should you begin collecting Social Security benefits as soon as you are eligible?

When determining the right time to start taking your Social Security benefits you need to look at a variety of factors including your age, health, and financial situation.

Here are your Social Security options, according to the Social Security Administration:

1. Early Retirement. If you have earned enough credits, you can begin receiving benefits at age 62. It’s important to note, the earlier you start collecting benefits, the smaller your monthly payments will be – as much as 30 percent less than what you would receive at full retirement age.

2. Full Retirement. To receive 100 percent of your Social Security benefits you must wait until you reach your full retirement age. If you were born before 1938, that age is 65. But the full retirement age is inching up and increasing to 67 years old. The table below shows how the full retirement age is rising.

3. Late Retirement. You may decide to delay your benefits up to age 70. The later you start collecting, the larger your monthly benefit will be – growing as much as 8 percent annually until age 70.

I hope this information has been helpful. To better understand how Social Security may affect your retirement plan reach out to my email at james.s@allinsgrp.com

Sincerely,

James Spiers

Registered Rep.