Social Security: How Your Filing Age Affects Your Benefits
One nice thing about Social Security is that older Americans get to choose when to take retirement benefits. You can sign up for Social Security at any point in time once you turn 62. But it's important to understand how your filing age ultimately affects your benefits before locking in your decision.On a basic level, the monthly Social Security benefit you're entitled to in retirement is based on your earnings history -- specifically, the amount of money you made during your 35 highest-paid years in the labor force. From there, the age you choose to claim benefits at will either raise those monthly payments, shrink them, or leave them as is.Image source: Getty Images.Continue reading
One nice thing about Social Security is that older Americans get to choose when to take retirement benefits. You can sign up for Social Security at any point in time once you turn 62. But it's important to understand how your filing age ultimately affects your benefits before locking in your decision.
On a basic level, the monthly Social Security benefit you're entitled to in retirement is based on your earnings history -- specifically, the amount of money you made during your 35 highest-paid years in the labor force. From there, the age you choose to claim benefits at will either raise those monthly payments, shrink them, or leave them as is.
Image source: Getty Images.
