GAO Report: Challenges For Those Claiming Social
Security Benefits Early This report of the U.S. Government Accountability Office looks at the circumstances of people who file for Social
Security benefits early to understand why they do so even though taking benefits before full retirement age reduces monthly payments.
Because Peggy is feeling the aches and pains you'd expect after decades in retail, she is exploring the possibility of dialing back her work hours and starting to collect Social
Security benefits early at age 62, four years before her Full Retirement Age.
Deciding to collect Social
Security benefits early, or before your FRA [1], means that you are choosing to collect a smaller benefit payment each month.
Collecting Social
Security benefits early results in a benefit reduction of 6.67 % per year for up to 36 months before full retirement age, and a rate of 5 % per year beyond that.
Several work - related factors may cause people to claim Social
Security benefits early and suggest they may face challenges in continuing to work at older ages.
Back in 1985, 57 % of men and 62 % of women claimed their Social
Security benefits early, at age 62.
In the event you initially decide to take Social
Security benefits early, and you later decide you should have waited to claim, you can withdraw your application within the first 12 months of starting to receive income.
So just there's a little bit of planning around taking Social
Security benefits early.
When to start tapping Social Security Some people have little choice but to take Social
Security benefits early.
As JohnFx suggests in a comment, one's personal life expectancy is something to take into account in deciding whether to start taking Social
Security benefits early or to defer them till age 70 «because the monthly benefit increases till age 70 but not beyond that.»
Thus, as a simple rule of thumb, if you are in poor health or heredity is against you and so you don't anticipate living a long time after retirement, start your Social
Security benefits early.
Listen in as we ask the question, «Is it ever appropriate to collect Social
Security benefits early?»
But Vernon's calculations show that about the worst thing you can do for your long - term planning is take Social
Security benefits early at age 62.
A nine - year bull market has inspired some retirees to take Social
Security benefits early in order to invest that money in the market.
If you do claim Social
Security benefits early, chances are you will take money from another source to make up for that lost income, Myers said.
The added financial burden may lead some retirees to start collecting their Social
Security benefits earlier than they would have otherwise.
Depending on how much you've saved, that could mean you're forced to take Social
Security benefits earlier, resulting in smaller benefits over your lifetime.
Not exact matches
Many other experts agree that 70 can not be the universal age for people to start claiming Social
Security benefits, and some explain how claiming
early can actually be very beneficial.
Claiming Social
Security retirement
benefits at the
earliest age — 62 — is a big temptation for many aspiring retirees.
For some people, it may make sense to draw on 401 (k) assets
earlier and defer claiming Social
Security benefits until 65 or 70 in order to get much higher
benefits from the government plan.
You also need to consider the effects that
early retirement can have on your Social
Security benefits.
It usually doesn't pay to claim Social
Security retirement
benefits early.
Social
Security's guaranteed compounding behavior from the
earliest claiming age (62) to the latest (70) results in a
benefit guaranteed to be 76 percent higher, said Ash Ahluwalia, CFP, founder of National Social
Security Partners, and this notion can impact other portfolio decisions.
Early in his term, he pushed through a $ 1.6 billion tax cut for businesses, offset by $ 1.4 billion in tax increases on individuals — including taxing pensions and Social
Security benefits.
«Gaps are certainly of special concern to those considering
early retirement, since they are eligible for Social
Security benefits at 62, but must wait until age 65 to receive Medicare,» said Kimberley Foss, a certified financial planner and founder of Empyrion Wealth Management.
To reduce Social
Security's projected funding shortfall, the commission would increase the taxable wage base by 2050 to include 90 percent of earnings, to increase the full - and
early - retirement ages to 69 and 64 respectively by 2075, to cover newly hired state and local workers after 2020, and to create a hardship exemption allowing those who can not work past age 62 to receive
benefits early.
For example, my full retirement age is 67 and if I claim at age 62, the
earliest age at which I can file for Social
Security benefits, my
benefit will be equivalent to 70 % of my full retirement age
benefit.
Those who turn 62 and are therefore first eligible for
early retirement
benefits from Social
Security in 2018 will have a retirement age of 66 and four months, with the age rising two months every year until hitting 67 for those born in 1960 or later.
The longer you wait, the more your Social
Security benefit grows — but for some it still makes sense to claim
benefits early.
But, with the
benefit of hindsight, I think the likelihood of the court finding against the way the federal government was going about trying to create a national
securities regime should have begun to seem likely very
early this year, when British Columbia decided to adopt a nuanced opposition to the federal position.
The survey of 903 adults aged 50 or older, who are either already retired or plan to retire in the next ten years, revealed those who began receiving Social
Security income
early report a lower average monthly payment ($ 1,190) than those who started at their full retirement age ($ 1,506) and those who delayed
benefits until age 70 ($ 1,924).
thanks, and yes, a pittance of a pension and regular checkups keep us on budget and head off any problems — best decision i ever made (financial or otherwise) was serving our country doing search - and - rescue, oil and chemical spill remediation, etc. (you can guess the branch of service)-- along the way, frugal living, along with dollar - cost averaging, asset allocation, and diversification allowed us to retire
early — Vanguard has been very good over the years, despite the Dot Bomb, 2002, and the recession (where we actually came out better with a modest but bargain retirement home purchase)... it's not easy building additional «legs» on a retirement platform, but now that we're here, cash, real estate, investments and insurance products, along with a small pension all help to avoid any real dependence on social
security (we won't even need it at full retirement age)-- however, like nearly everybody, we're headed for Medicare in several years, albeit with a nice supplemental and pharmacy
benefits — but our main concern is staying fit, active, and healthy!
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Balanced budgets, child
benefits, Child Care, corporate income tax, CPP, debt, deficits,
early learning, economic thought, federal budget, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, macroeconomics, OECD, Old Age
Security, poverty, privatization, public infrastructure, public services, Role of government, social policy, taxation, women.
If your budget for
early retirement includes working part - time and getting Social
Security benefits, you could take an unexpected financial hit.
Although you can retire as
early as 62 and start receiving Social
Security benefits, your age dictates the size of your payout.
For more on Social
Security spousal
benefits visit our Retirement Center and check out Rob's
earlier blog post.
The BLS observes «The leading edge of the baby boomers (those born in 1946) became eligible for
early Social
Security benefits at age 62 in 2008 and reached full retirement age at 66 in 2012.
What is certain is that these new
securities demand a mechanism to allow both the purchase and sale in shares of these
early stage companies for the system to evolve, grow and
benefit all.
You started saving
early to take advantage of the power of compounding, maxed out your 401 (k) and individual retirement account (IRA) contributions every year, made smart investments, squirreled away money into additional savings, paid down debt and figured out how to maximize your Social
Security benefits.
As a general rule,
early or late retirement will give you about the same total Social
Security benefits over your lifetime.
As with regular Social
Security benefits, if you claim spousal
benefits early, your
benefit is reduced.
If you were born after 1937, you also can start your Social
Security benefits as
early as age 62, but your full retirement age is more than 65.
Although most analysis of Social
Security benefits assumes that you'll value the money you receive
early in retirement only slightly more than the
benefits you'll get years down the line, many people expect to get the most out of retirement in the years from 62 to 70.
As a general rule, survivors
benefits based on age will be about the same total Social
Security benefits over a lifetime, whether they start
early or at full survivors retirement age.
The
earliest a widow or widower can start receiving Social
Security survivors
benefits based on age will remain at age 60.
The Social
Security Administration itself says, «As a general rule,
early or late retirement will give you about the same total Social
Security benefits over your lifetime.»
By retiring
early, you run the risk of decreasing your future social
security benefits.
If you qualify for Social
Security, you can claim your
benefits as
early as age 62, but you won't get 100 % of the
benefit you're entitled to unless you wait to claim until you reach your full retirement age.
Still, Benz says that taking
early Social
Security benefits might make sense if your best alternative is to sell stocks in a depressed market.
By delaying Social
Security benefits, and dipping into your retirement portfolio
early on, you can help to ensure the longevity of your funds along with a proper standard of living so you can enjoy the retirement you deserve.