All United States citizens are entitled to a Social Security benefit. Each benefit is completely individual. By this we mean that the amount of money we receive in retirement depends on our personal situation. The years worked, the time of claiming the pension and the salary as a worker have a direct influence. The amount of money we receive on a monthly basis with the Social Security has this influence that can change completely.
To find out what pension you will receive if you retire at age 62, you can use the Government’s Social Security calculator, although this is not totally reliable. The final figure it gives you is an approximation. But it is a good start to know how much we will collect with our pension if we retire at 62. With this data in our possession we can calculate the amount of money in the monthly SSA check.
Social Security Retirement at Age 62
The first of the data to consider when applying for retirement at age 62 is years worked. The more years worked and the better the salary, the better the retirement at 62. Using the calculator we can find out what would be the approximate retirement at 67 years of age, i.e., with a Full Retirement Age (FRA).
From this figure we have to subtract 30%, approximately. This is the figure for the pension you will receive at age 62. In any case, we must take into account other factors such as taxes, which will make the real monthly money lower than we think. In addition, we can also see that there are state taxes and federal taxes, although in some states there are no Social Security taxes to pay.
How to improve the pension at age 62?
To have a better pension at this age we must plan things in advance. To begin with, we should work for about 35 years with a good salary. The final Social Security pension will depend on the salary directly, so having a good salary is fundamental to have a retirement with greater purchasing power.
And the importance of working for around 35 years has its justification. Each year not worked adds $0 to the average contribution. This means that if you work 20 years at a high salary but do not work more, your final pension at age 62 will be lower than you would like. That is why it is so important to work for 35 years, even if some of them do not have a very high salary.