When will the Social Security Benefits start?

Question

1. I understand that the early retirement age starts at 62 years old. However, the benefits will increase if a person decides to work longer, such as up to 67 or 70 years old. When does the person need to inform Social Security office that he/she will be stop working?

2. If a person decides to work part-time, after 62 years old, and stop working completely at 67, will he/she get the benefit as same as the 67 years old person or by a reduced rate?

With the same logic, if a person stops working completely at 62 years old, without informing the Social Security Office, he/she decides to file the claim when he/she reaches 67 years old, will that person receive the benefit as a 67 years old person or as a 62 years old person? (Assume that the person has sufficient income to live, without relying on SS income during that five years gap.)

3. From question # 1, what will be happening if a person changes his mind after informing the SS office, by deciding to continue working?

Answer 1

About your #1, unless you’re in your 60s right now, you can’t get benefits at 62. My dad was born in ’43 and was among the last group that could. The minimum age has gone up since then. You can get your answers from the source.

Here's the questions section of the SSA website:

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa....

Answer 2

If you start drawing benefits before your full retirement age, your benefits are permanently cut.  At age 62 you will draw 70% of what you would draw on the same wage base at 67.  If you continue to work after that, your wage base for any year you have wages will be adjusted to add the additional wages to your lifetime earnings and your benefits will increase.  Your current benefits will be cut if you earn too much.  

If you stop working at 62 but don't draw a benefit until you are 67 you will get your full benefit based on your lifetime earnings.  For each year you hold off after 67 until age 70, your benefit will be increased by 8% but you will receive it for one less year of life.

In making a decision to start drawing benefits, consider your health.  The answer to how to maximize your overall benefits is to determine when you are going to die.  Tough call!   If you start drawing 70% of your full benefit at 62, you will hit the break even point at 76 years and 4 months so if you plan to check out before then (you smoke!) then sign up early.  If both your parents lived to be over 90, hold off for a while.

If you change your mind about what you plan to do, call Social Security and cancel your claim.

Answer 3

Follow the link

Answer 4

1. You don't have to inform SS that you are quiting working.  You have to apply for benefits to start.  Those are not that same since you can retire without starting your SS benefits.  If you want to retire at 62, and start collecting at 67 because you are living off savings or other income, you can do that.

2. See answer 1.  The only thing that matters is how old you are when you start the benefits.  If you plan to work from age 62 to age 67, you should not turn on benefits until age 67 unless you need them because you don't have enough to live on.

3. You don't get to change your mind.  Once you apply for benefits and start receiving them, you will always recieve them at the rate determined by your age at startup.

Financial analysts all recommend putting off starting your benefits until as late as possible, even after your age of full benefit, which for more people is more than 65 nowadays, since it is determined by your year of birth and can be as high as 67.  People are living longer and the longer you wait to have the benefits start, the more you will collect over your lifetime.  Plus inflation won't have as many years to erode it that way.

Answer 5

it takes a year to get benefits