Financial stability is something highly sought after for all retirees in the United States. Starting to collect Social Security means stopping working at the same time as having enough money to pay the bills every month. But to get to this point you need to wait a long time, since you can’t retire at just any age. Applying for Social Security retirement benefits at age 55 is not possible, but we can retire to stop working.
Despite this statement, we must be very careful with this decision. In order to retire at 55, we must plan all our steps very well. It is not mandatory to continue working, but it is necessary to have money to pay the bills, mortgage, food, clothes, transportation and everything else. Let’s take a look at what points to keep in mind in order to be able to retire at 55.
Retiring at 55
To retire at 55 you must consider something fundamental, and that is that your Social Security pension will not arrive until the age of 62. That is the minimum age to apply for it. Before that age, it is impossible to apply for an SSA benefit. You can stop working, but you will not be able to start collecting a retirement pension.
In this sense, stopping work at that age must be a very thoughtful process. You should have money saved to meet the expenses that follow. If you have enough money a source of investment, you can stop working at age 55. By doing this you will only need to apply for the benefit when you reach age 62, if you need it. You can delay applying until age 67 to get a larger monthly check.
Can I collect a Social Security pension at age 55?
At age 55, it is impossible to collect a Social Security pension for the reasons stated above. If you want to stop working, you can do so without any problem, but you should know that you will not start collecting your pension until you are 62 years old. You can, however, take certain actions to ensure that at retirement age you will have a good monthly payment.
Since the Social Security Administration averages your Social Security payment over the 35 years of your highest paycheck, you need to work at least that long. If you work less, keep in mind that you will have a smaller benefit. Each year not worked adds $0 to your average pension. Therefore, you can retire at age 55, but it is a good idea to work as many years as possible.