Social Security Benefits: At What Age Do You Qualify?
Social Security benefits are designed to help supplement your income during your retirement years. You can choose to start taking benefits at different times depending on how old you are. The time that you start taking benefits will determine the size of your monthly payment for the rest of your life.
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Eligibility
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The earliest that anyone can start taking Social Security benefits is at age 62. This is known as taking early retirement with the Social Security system. After the age of 62, you can wait and choose to take full retirement benefits. The age at which you can retire and take full benefits varies depending on when you were born. The earliest age for full Social Security benefits is 65. If you were born in 1960, you have to wait until you are 67 before you can take full benefits.
Benefits
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Deciding when to take your benefits is one of the most difficult decisions that you will have to make during retirement. While it can be tempting to take benefits at the age of 62, this will reduce your benefit for the remainder of your life. The benefit will be reduced by 20 percent compared to what you could get if you simply waited for full retirement age.
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Considerations for Women
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When making the decision about when to take benefits, women have a number of things to consider in their decision. If you are a single woman, taking benefits later would most likely be the best option to pursue. If you are a married woman, taking benefits early could work better. This is because the payments for Social Security are based on joint life expectancy and women live longer than men on average. When your husband dies, you will get the larger of the benefits between you and your husband. This strategy allows you to get benefits sooner and then get a bigger benefit if your husband dies.
Considerations for Men
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As a man, you have different factors to consider when making this decision. As a married man, it is usually a good idea to wait until you reach full retirement age. This way, you can get the full benefit that you are entitled to. Social Security benefits are based on how much you earned in your working life. Since men average a higher salary, it makes sense to hold out for the largest benefit. If you are single, you can look at your finances and make the best decision for your situation.
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