If you qualify for Social Security because you paid into the system
for at least ten years, or if you’re married to someone who
qualifies, you’re eligible to begin collecting benefits when
you turn 62.
If you wait until you reach what the government
defines as full retirement age — 65 for anyone born before
1938, increasing gradually to 66 for people born in 1943, and
then to 67 for people born in 1960 and later — you get the
full amount to which you’re entitled, based on the total
FICA
taxes you and your employers paid. For every year after your
full retirement age that you wait to collect, your benefit increases
between 5.5% and 8%, depending on the year you were born.
When to collect
Experts tend to agree that you should start
collecting as soon as you’re eligible, which generally means
anytime after 62 that you retire, and no later than your full
retirement age even if you’re still working. The longer you
wait, the fewer years you’ll collect and the longer you’ll
have to live to end up with the same amount.
Your statement
If you’re 25 or older and pay FICA taxes,
you’ll get a Social Security Statement each year about three
months before your birthday. It will estimate, in today’s
dollars, the amount you’ll be eligible for at 62 and at your
full retirement age. It’s a good wake-up call.
In most cases, you get your Social
Security income in addition to any pension and any
other retirement income you might have. But there’s
an exception. If you have an
integrated pension plan,
your employer counts a portion of what you get from
Social Security as part of your defined benefit and
reduces the amount of your pension accordingly.
If you want an immediate and personalized estimate of your Social Security benefits, you can use the Retirement Estimator on the Social Security Web site:
www.socialsecurity.gov/
estimator/
Because the Estimator draws on your actual Social Security earnings record, you don’t have to manually key in years of earning information to get your estimate.
