At what age should I start receiving my Social Security retirement benefits?
Choosing when to start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits is an important decision that affects your monthly benefit amount for the rest of your life. If you wait until your full retirement age (67 for people who are born in 1960 or later), you will get your full benefit.
You can start receiving your Social Security retirement benefit as early as age 62. But we will reduce your benefits by as much as 30% below what you would get if you waited to begin receiving benefits until your full retirement age.
On the other hand, if you delay claiming your benefit, your monthly amount will be increased for each month of delay. These adjustments are permanent.
For more details on the affect of choosing early or delayed retirement read our publication When to Start Receiving Retirement Benefits.
You can also get estimates of your personal retirement benefits and see the effects of different retirement age scenarios by creating or signing in to your personal my Social Security.
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