Personal Finance and Investing

I started collecting at age 70, and did not see any additional amount as described in the earlier part of the article. Now I know why.

I do get tired of seeing people say you should claim as early as possible, you never know when you'll die, and a bird in the hand, and all that crap. It is really nice having the larger monthly income. The people I personally know who started collecting at age 62 wound up regretting it, because of the permanently reduced income. It's all well and good for those who have a generous pension or huge savings, but most people who collect early do so out of dire necessity. Or sometimes what they think is dire necessity, when in reality they could have easily worked two or three or more years. Again, I'm thinking of people I personally know.

Plus, the COLA, as miserable as it can be, is a percentage increase over what you are already collecting. Which means that those who start collecting early and thus get a minimum amount, fall behind year after year.

The book Get What's Yours by Laurence Kotlikoff, Paul Solman, and Philip Moeller is enormously helpful. I read the first version when it came out and bought the updated one a couple of years later. That was how I learned I could collect against my ex-husband's account once I turned 66 (my full retirement age) and then my on my own account when I turned 70. Hooray for me.

And "full retirement age" is a meaningful concept, if for no other reason than that age is the one at which you can, if you wish, collect SS and still work, without your SS payout being reduced. Hooray for that!