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Social Security Benefits | |
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| Office of the Chief Actuary |
Early or Late Retirement |
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Retirement before "Normal Retirement Age" (NRA) reduces benefits, and retirement after NRA may increase benefits. NRA is also referred to as "Full Retirement Age." |
Workers planning for their retirement should be aware that retirement benefits can be significantly higher or lower than the "primary insurance amount," depending on age at retirement. If a worker begins receiving benefits before his/her normal retirement age, the worker will receive a reduced benefit. A worker can choose to retire as early as age 62, but doing so may result in a reduction of as much as 30 percent. Starting to receive benefits after normal retirement age may result in larger benefits. With delayed retirement credits, a person can receive his or her largest benefit by retiring at age 70. |
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| Compute the effect of early or delayed retirement |
If you enter your date of birth and the effective month for beginning your benefits, we will tell you the effect of early or delayed retirement as a percentage of your primary insurance amount. Please note that benefits are generally paid in the month following the effective month. |
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| Early retirement reduces benefits | In the case of early retirement, a benefit is reduced 5/9 of one percent for each month before NRA, up to 36 months. If the number of months exceeds 36, then the benefit is further reduced 5/12 of one percent per month. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Delayed retirement increases benefits | Delayed retirement credit is generally given for retirement after the normal retirement age. To receive full credit, you must be insured at your normal retirement age. No credit is given after age 69. If you retire before age 70, some of your delayed retirement credits will not be applied until the January after you start benefits. The above calculator gives you the amount with all credits applied for comparison purposes. Delayed retirement credits increase a retiree's benefits. The table below shows the delayed retirement credit by year of birth. |
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| Annual delayed retirement credit percentage varies from 3% to 8% by year of birth |
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| More information | A table illustrates the complex interaction among normal retirement age, actuarial reduction, and delayed retirement credit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Site Map Last reviewed or modified June 12, 2008 |
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