age one can retire draw social sec
In general, the longer you can wait to collect Social Security, the better off you will be, particularly if you are in good health and stand a decent chance of living into your 90s. That said Social Security is not a one-size-fits-all program. If you will reach full retirement age in 2015, the limit on your earnings for the months before full retirement age is $41,880. Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, you can get your benefits with no limit on your earnings. The earnings limits amounts for 2016 are not yet available. We will post the 2016 information on our website when we receive it. Social Security's full-benefit retirement age is increasing gradually because of legislation passed by Congress in 1983. Traditionally, the full benefit age was 65, and early retirement benefits were first available at age 62, with a permanent reduction to 80 percent of the full benefit amount. Widows and Widowers may be entitled to a survivor benefit at the age of sixty provided they have not remarried before the age of 60. Also, a disabled widow or widower may receive a disability benefit on the record of a deceased spouse at age 50 provided they have not remarried prior to age 50. If he or she delays taking benefits until age 70, the benefit will be 32 percent higher because of that delay. The maximum retirement benefit for someone who waits until age 70 to collect benefits is $3,350 a month in 2013. Most people claim Social Security before they reach the age for full benefits. Of people who started getting retired worker benefits in 2011, three out of four (74 percent) received benefits that are reduced for early retirement. Early retirement benefits will continue to be available at age 62, but they will be reduced more. When the full-benefit age reaches 67, benefits taken at age 62 will be reduced to 70 percent of the full benefit and benefits first taken at age 65 will be reduced to 86.7 percent of the full benefit. By doing so, these early retirees settle for a monthly benefit that right now is 25 percent less than what they would receive at their full retirement age (currently 66). For today's recipient eligible for the maximum monthly benefit, that's the difference between $19,665 and $26,220 a year. You can get Social Security retirement benefits and work at the same time. However, if you are younger than full retirement age and make more than the yearly earnings limit, we will reduce your benefit. Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, we will not reduce your benefits no matter how much you earn. Before full retirement age -- now between ages 62 and 66 -- the Social Security Administration awards an individual whichever benefit is higher. That is when and how you will collect Social Security retirement benefits. Make the wrong choice, and you could lock yourself into 30 years of reduced income. Make the right choice, and you could more than make up for what you've lost in the past year's market turmoil.
The full benefit age was 65, and early retirement benefits were first available at age 62.