The age to apply for Social Security retirement in the United States is key to enjoying it to the fullest. Applying for Early Retirement Age (ERA) is critical to enjoying a longer period of rest and relaxation. Depending on when you apply for Social Security, the amount of money you receive is more or less. But it’s not just the money you receive that we need to consider.
There are many factors to consider if we want to have an ERA with Social Security. Money is very important in this case, of course, but there are other important elements that we cannot miss. Besides money, the time to enjoy it is key, as well as the health we have to enjoy all that relaxing time.
Pros of an Early Retirement Age through Social Security
There are a few key points to consider when considering the option of requesting an early retirement. We should consider all of these points before moving on to the downside. These positive points may not be something that is important to you, but it is something that is important to most Social Security users.
- It is good for physical health: Not having to work every day can give you many hours of rest. Plus, you’ll have time to exercise, take walks, and take better care of your life. Therefore, applying for Social Security Early Retirement Age could be beneficial to your physical health.
- Improve mental health: As with physical health, mental health also improves. You could do more leisure things in your life and leisure always leads to more stable mental health. If we put this together with physical health, we can say that retiring with SCBA helps us to have good overall health.
- Time to travel: If you like to travel, Social Security retirement will give you plenty of time to do so. Of course, you’ll have to choose your destinations wisely because you won’t have a lot of money, but you can plan to do it well.
Cons of Early Retirement Age
Not everything is positive in the decision to retire early. Doing so also has its downside, although it can make up for a lot. Let’s take a look at these cons of retiring early with Social Security.
- It could worsen your health: This is not like the negative point. We’re talking about specific cases here that might be unavoidable, though it’s good to point it out. A 2008 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that early retirement caused problems with mental health, mobility and increased the risk of heart attack for many of the subjects. However, as we have already discussed, it is unavoidable in many cases.
- Less Social Security per month: If you retire at age 62, you will not be able to receive your full retirement pay. This limits many people who have no other source of income or savings. If you apply for ERA, you should know that you will collect about 80% of the final benefit.
- You will need health insurance: Another big problem with retiring early is health insurance. Usually, companies drop health insurance for their former workers. But this is not always the case, so you may want to ask your former company if it is possible to continue using that health insurance.
Conclusions about retiring early
If you want to enjoy more years without working, retiring early is the best way to go. However, you should consider that you will receive less of your Social Security benefit each month. In addition, another point to consider is health insurance, although you can get one on your own.
In addition to all of the above, you will have more time for your leisure, to travel and to do sports, so you will have a much higher physical and mental health. So it all depends on what your goal in life is and what you are looking for during your retirement years.