There Are Good Reasons to Draw Social Security at Age 62

If you are getting close to age 60, you have some retirement decisions: when to retire and at what age to claim your Social Security benefits.

If you were born after 1960, your full retirement age is 67, but you can begin drawing reduced Social Security Benefits at age 62. If you claim Social Security at age 62 rather than waiting for full retirement age (or beyond), your monthly benefits will be lower. For each year you wait, your benefits increase by 8 percent.

For example, say you were born in 1959. Your full retirement eligibility begins at age 66 years and 10 months. Your monthly benefit based on a $50,000 annual salary would qualify for a monthly Social Security benefit of $1,264 at age 62. That benefit jumps to $1,785 at full retirement age, and $2,237 at age 70.

There are obvious advantages in delaying claiming your Social Security benefits. Aside from receiving higher monthly payments for waiting, there are tax deferral advantages. Currently, most Social Security recipients who have other combined yearly income must pay income tax on 85% of their annual benefits.

Also, if you live to a ripe old age, giving up those years of Social Security benefits that you could have drawn from age 62 doesn’t always equate to lost benefits. Social Security benefits are calculated on average life expectancies. If you live to or past your mid-80s, you will eventually receive the money you gave up by waiting.

There are, however, equally good reasons to draw your Social Security benefits early:

Reason #1: You may fall outside the “actuarially neutral” formula that figures everyone will receive lifetime benefits regardless of what age you began drawing Social Security. In other words, you might for a variety of reasons have a shorter life expectancy. If you pass on accepting five years of Social Security benefits between age 62 and 67–around $75,000–you might not live long enough to receive the money you didn’t collect.

Reason #2: You need the income to survive. Perhaps you lost your job, or have to stop working. There are many who end up retiring before they anticipated and have no choice.

Reason #3: You are still supporting minor children. Claiming Social Security benefits before full retirement age enables you to apply for other benefits to help you with the expenses of caring for minor children.

Reason #4: You have a spouse who earns more, but has health problems. In the unfortunate event your higher-earning spouse has a life-threatening medical condition, you might want to consider taking your Social Security benefit at age 62. After the spouse dies, you can receive survivor benefits based on the spouse’s higher Social Security benefit.

Reason #5: Your spouse is older than you, and has lower lifetime earnings. Do the math. Timing is everything. You might discover that your Social Security monthly benefit could be higher if you file at age 62 and before your older spouse elects the Social Security spousal benefits.


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3 thoughts on “There Are Good Reasons to Draw Social Security at Age 62”

  1. The NUMBER ONE reason to take early benefits , GET IT BEFORE THEY GIVE IT AWAY TO SOME ILLEGAL BORDER JUMPER ! !

    1. Get it lat 62 before the soc sec pool dries up
      Who really knows how much longer it will last?

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