Member-only story
Here’s how many thousands of dollars you’ll lose if you “wait” to collect your social security.
In the U.S., a lot of folks facing retirement are perplexed about when to take their monthly entitled social security payments.
Should you take it “early” or wait until your “full retirement” age?
Here’s what the official US social security site says about your eligibility:
“You can start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. However, you are entitled to full benefits when you reach your full retirement age. If you delay taking your benefits from your full retirement age up to age 70, your benefit amount will increase.”
And just in case you didn’t get that, they continue:
“If you start receiving benefits early, your benefits are reduced a small percent for each month before your full retirement age.”
Wow! Wait and get more money! Sounds great, right?
They even show you a nice chart of benefit amounts based on your year of birth.
The government has a vested financial interest in “incentivizing” you to wait. The formula is: total of each month payment between ages 62 and 66, divided by the…
