QUESTION DETAIL
Related User
Votes
Is it financially prudent to take your social sercurity at 63 rather than waiting to 66? When is the best time to claim social security?
ANSWER
Expert Thomas Graham iii's Answer:
I believe this truthfully just depends on your given financial condition. I'm assuming from the information that your "normal" retirement age is 66. The "normal" retirement age meaning the time which you would receive full benefits from Social Security. Assuming you began drawing Social Security at 63 (with a "normal" retirement age of 66) that would mean you would be accepting 20% less in benefits. The first item to consider is your current cash needs. Do you really need the cash now to survive? If not then it might be more prudent to wait until 66 when you could reap the full benefit of your Social Security. The second item to consider is your current life expectancy. If you happen to be in poor health than it might be wise to begin drawing out your Social Security as early as possible. If you are currently in pretty good health than it would obviously be more prudent to wait as long as possible to ensure the largest benefit possible to help with your extended lifetime. The Social Security Administration has several great calculators to help you with your given circumstances. They can be found at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/calculators.htm.
