THOSE looking to retire can boost their payments by hundreds of dollars or more with some smart planning.
Waiting until you reach your full retirement age (FRA) or beyond could increase how much you get from Social Security each month.
The government pays out Social Security based on the age retirees worked until – meaning waiting can increase the payments.
Americans can start claiming at 62, but waiting until you’re 67 or even older could be worthwhile.
WAIT UP
Your FRA depends on what year you were born.
That’s not just because of your age, but because the FRA is slowly being raised.
Those reaching FRA, which is currently 66 years and 8 months, were born in 1958.
Those born in 1959 will have to wait until they are 66 years and 10 months old.
Anyone born in 1960 or after will hit FRA at age 67.
Claiming your Social Security payments early will mean they are smaller.
For example, if you claim at 62, you will receive just 70% of the full benefit you would get at FRA.
Waiting past full retirement age gets you an additional 8% of the full payout annually.
USA Today calculated that if your FRA retirement benefit would be around the average ($2,000 monthly) and you retired at 62, you’d get $1,400 per month throughout your retirement.
If you wait until 70, that number is $2,480.
The difference between retiring at 62 and 70, therefore, is over $1,000 per month.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Retirement decisions are highly personal and depend on a variety of factors.
Waiting to retire at 70 is not for everyone.
Some have advised that retiring early can be a solid economic choice — depending on how you use your money.
Experts have shared financial tricks to help some people retire as early as their 50s.
See how one financial expert analyzed whether a client could retire at 55.
It’s often wise to see your own financial expert before making any major retirement decisions.
A change is coming to Social Security, and it’s now impacting those born after 1958.
Another proposal would raise the retirement age yet again, this time to 69.
