Your Social Security benefits can be an important part of your retirement income — but when should you start collecting them? It’s a big decision, so you’ll want to consider your options carefully.
Essentially, you’ll need to decide whether you’re going to take your benefits as early as possible — age 62 — or if you should wait until your “full retirement age” or even longer. If you begin accepting benefits at 62, they’ll be about 30% lower than if you waited until your full retirement age, which is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. And if you wait until 70, your benefits will be about 24% higher than at your full retirement age.
In deciding when to claim benefits, you’ll want to weigh these factors: Income needs — If you need the money to help meet your daily cost of living, then you may not feel you have much of a choice about when to take Social Security. However, if you have sufficient income from other sources, such as your 401(k) or other retirement accounts, you may be able to delay taking benefits until they’re much larger.
