Should I retire at age 62 or 63?

Senior Citizen: If I start my retirement benefits at age 63, is the amount I would get the same as age 62?

Social Security Representative: I like to use this question here because the answer is something that most people should just kind of understand, but sometimes people get pension systems mixed up. Social Security does not have a fixed amount for an individual when they get to be 62.

In fact, with my sister, up in Canada, they have a fixed amount that an individual gets because of being a worker in Canada and then you get something above and beyond that. Well, for workers in the United States, we look at how much you’ve earned and paid into the system to figure out how much you’re going to get.

We send out a benefit statement every year. That’s what people need to do. Pull out their benefit statement, you look to see what your benefit is at age 62, what your benefit would be at age 66, if that’s your full retirement age. Well, for that four years, if your difference is $480 and there are 48 months there, well, then you know that your benefit is going to increase $10 per every month that you wait and hold off retirement from age 62.

So do the math, do look at that benefit statement because that’s the first place that you need to start looking when you start doing some retirement planning and you don’t have to wait until, you know, a date of birth. You don’t have to work until January. Sometimes retirement plans are, you know, personal.

Senior Citizen: Right.

Social Security Representative: You know, maybe October is the right time to go out on retirement for you and you can find all that information on our website to help make those decisions.

Senior Citizen: It’s awfully hard to get along anymore without the access to the Internet, isn’t it?

Social Security Representative: Well, and that’s the thing is that if you’re paying for Internet access and you have it at home, use it.

Senior Citizen: Right.

Social Security Representative: Also, we’ve talked to a lot of individuals where the libraries have got Internet access. We have some tribal council organizations that make Internet access available to their members and so use the access where you have availability, but be, you know, safe. Be sure to come right into our website, socialsecurity.gov.

Senior Citizen: Okay, thank you, Mark.

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