Don't Make These Big Mistakes When Claiming Your Social Security Benefits

Although Social Security has been around for nearly 90 years, many Americans still lack basic knowledge about their benefits, including when to take them, how to maximize them, and why their full retirement age is important.

In fact, according to a recent survey by Nationwide Financial, nearly half (49%) don’t know how to maximize their benefits. Another 33% of adults said they didn’t know at what age they were eligible for full retirement benefits or if they should take benefits early or delay benefits until later in life. With over 72 million Americans on track to collect benefits from Social Security this year, knowing when to retire and how to maximize benefits is crucial.

If you don’t know how Social Security works, when to claim your benefits or how to maximize your benefits, you could be missing out on reaching your retirement goals.

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Here are several big mistakes you don't want to make when claiming your Social Security benefits.

1. Miscalculating your Full Retirement Age (FRA)

Your Social Security ‘full retirement age’ (FRA), also known as normal retirement age, is the age you’re entitled to 100% of your earned Social Security benefits. FRA is 66 for beneficiaries born between 1943 and 1954. It gradually increases to 67 for beneficiaries born in 1960 or later. In terms of strategy, claiming Social Security before your FRA reduces your monthly benefit, while delaying benefits until age 70 increases your monthly benefit.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) defines your FRA based on your birth year and your lifetime earnings history. The SSA adjusts your actual earnings based on the 35 years when you earned the most money. If you worked fewer than 35 years, Social Security credits you with zero earnings for each year up to 35. Although you can start collecting Social Security at age 62, if you sign up before your full retirement age, you won't receive the full benefit you have earned.

Oddly enough, if you were born on the first day of a month, the SSA uses the previous month to figure your FRA. So, if you were born on March 1, the SSA considers you to have been born in the previous month (Feb). If you were born on January 1, the SSA bases your FRA on the previous year.

This is your FRA by birth year.

2. Claiming too early

You can claim Social Security as early as age 62. But claiming Social Security early will result in a permanently reduced monthly benefit Yes, that's right, the reduced monthly benefit is lifelong, set in stone, permanent for all time.

This is how much your initial monthly benefit will be permanently reduced for every month you claim your Social Security benefit before reaching FRA:

• Your benefit will be reduced by five-ninths of 1% per month (6-2/3% per year) for as many as 36 months before full retirement age.
• Your benefit will be reduced by five-twelfths of 1% per month (5% per year) for every month you claim early beyond 36 months.

However, your Social Security benefit will be permanently increased if you wait until after your full retirement age (FRA) to start your benefits.

3. Forgetting to factor in your life expectancy age

How much you receive in monthly benefits depends on the age you begin receiving Social Security. Putting off filing for benefits as long as possible will maximize your monthly payments. However, when you start claiming benefits is up to you and will depend on any number of circumstances, such as if you decide to continue working past the age of 62.

If you experience an unexpected health emergency or you don't expect to live a long life, you may decide to claim benefits early. On the other hand, if you have resources like a pension, investment portfolio, or other sources of income, you might be more flexible about when to take Social Security benefits. However, if you need your benefits to make ends meet now, you likely have fewer options.

4. Not understanding the basics of Social Security

Making the decision when to start Social Security payments is crucial. Starting too early could mean the loss of tens of thousands of dollars for you and your spouse.

But that's not the only problem. There are claiming rules and plenty of personal factors that come into play as you decide when to file for your benefits. Here are three factors regarding age that can help you get the most out of your benefit.

Full Retirement Age (FRA)

FRA is the age you can start receiving your full retirement benefit amount. If you were born from 1943 to 1954, your FRA is age 66. The FRA gradually increases if you were born from 1955 to 1960, until it reaches 67. If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement benefits are payable to you at age 67. Use our Social Security Full Retirement Age calculator to sort it out.

Early retirement age

You can begin taking Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. However, taking benefits before your full retirement age will mean a permanent reduction in your payments — as much as 25% to 30%, depending on your full retirement age. And, despite what you may think, your payment will not automatically increase to 100% of your full retirement benefit when you reach full retirement age.

However, Social Security gives you 12 months from the date you applied for retirement benefits to cancel your initial claim if you change your mind. That way, you can refile when you reach full retirement age and get your full benefit amount. However, you will have to repay any money Social Security has paid you. Also, if you continue working but claim benefits early, your monthly payment might be cut further, depending on your income. However, this reduction is not permanent.

Delayed retirement age

If you hold off claiming your Social Security benefits beyond your FRA, your retirement benefit will continue to increase up until age 70. There is no incentive to delay claiming after age 70. All things considered, it pays to delay claiming your benefits, sometimes even beyond your FRA.

Read Avoid These Three Common Mistakes When Claiming Social Security to gain an even greater understanding of easy mistakes to make when claiming your benefits.

Other key insights from the survey

The survey by Nationwide Financial also revealed that few people know all of the details of how Social Security works, with almost half of Americans having an incorrect view about how claiming benefits early (or late) will impact their monthly benefit.

• Of those not currently receiving Social Security benefits, two in five are unsure how much their future monthly payment will be.
• Many of those surveyed aren’t sure at what age to expect their retirement savings to run out.
• Less than half of those surveyed agree that they expect their Social Security benefits will be enough to cover their basic needs in retirement.
• When thinking about retirement, nearly two-thirds plan to use or are using their full Social Security benefit for their monthly expenses.
• A third (34%) of adults not currently receiving Social Security benefits (but who plan to) intend on filing for benefits early and continuing to work.
• More than three in five who work with a financial professional report that they receive advice about how and when to file for benefits.
• Those age 60-65 expect to draw Social Security at an average age of 65.

The future of Social Security

While the future of Social Security is uncertain, the program is not going bankrupt. Still, nearly three-quarters of American adults worry about Social Security running out of money in their lifetime, with a third strongly agreeing, according to the survey.

Gen Z, Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely than those aged 60-65 to agree that they will not get a dime of the Social Security benefits they have earned. What's more, women (75%) are more likely than men (69%) to worry about the Social Security program running out of funding in their lifetime.

The study highlights that what all age groups can agree on is that the Social Security system needs to change, with over three-quarters of adults strongly agreeing.

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