In the United States, you can apply for Social Security retirement as early as age 62. However, requesting retirement at age 67 can be one of the best financial decisions of your life. Asking for retirement at age 62 means losing 30% of your monthly amount forever. For this reason, waiting until the age of 67 is a better idea, in order to have a huge Social Security.
It is not mandatory to wait until 67 without collecting the benefit, but it is very advantageous. In addition to having a higher monthly amount, there are other important reasons to apply for Full Retirement Age at age 67. These reasons are subjective, but they are certainly great benefits for most people, so you can take note for your own retirement.
Advantages of claiming Social Security at age 67
As we’ve discussed before, applying for Social Security retirement at age 67 has a big financial advantage. Thanks to waiting until Full Retirement Age we are going to be able to have a maximum benefit of $3,345. This amount is very good to live comfortably and peacefully in many different United States.
In addition to this benefit, there are two other benefits that we should take into account:
- We can save during our working years. If we work until age 67, we will have more years working. Therefore, during those years we can save some extra money.
- Medicare. Until the age of 65, we cannot start enjoying Medicare. Therefore, collecting Social Security at 67 and having access to Medicare is a double economic advantage for all retirees.
These are not the only benefits, as each Social Security beneficiary has his or her own. Regardless, it is important to keep these ideas in our financial plan to maximize our monthly income.
Think carefully about your final decision before starting to collect Social Security, since doing so after the age of 67 has its negative side as well, as you can see below.
Disadvantages of retiring at age 67
There are many advantages to applying for retirement at age 67, but it also has its disadvantages. These are the major disadvantages of applying for Full Retirement Age:
- Older age to enjoy the money. Starting to collect retirement at age 67 means we are older and, therefore, have less time to rest.
- Health. Health at age 67 may be worse than at age 62. That is why we must have an active lifestyle, as this is the only way to stay in the best possible health.
For all this, we must take into account the personal inconvenience of each Social Security beneficiary. The benefits are exactly the same as each SSA user has their own personal and personal reasons.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide, so when in doubt it’s best to wait a bit. Applying for Social Security is a decision that can be reversed, yes, but it’s much better if we’re confident in what we’re doing.