Social Security Threatens To Close All Field Offices

[Divernan]

11. You don't know jack - one can still collect SS at 62

And people like you spreading this type of misinformation is EXACTLY the reason why face-to-face interaction at local social secuity offices is vital so claimants are not screwed out of benefits they have earned over their lifetimes.

You can start your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62, but the benefit amount you receive will be less than your full retirement benefit amount.

If you start your benefits early, they will be reduced based on the number of months you receive benefits before you reach your full retirement age. If your:

full retirement age is 66, the reduction of your benefits at age 62 is 25 percent; at age 63, it is about 20 percent; at age 64, it is about 13.3 percent; and at age 65, it is about 6.7 percent.

full retirement age is older than 66 (that is, you were born after 1954), you can still start your retirement benefits at 62 but the reduction in your benefit amount will be greater, up to a maximum of 30 percent at age 62 for people born in 1960 and later.

http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/applying2.htm

One of the most complex issues is determining what would maximize your payouts -whether to claim benefits at age 62 through your spouse, ex-spouse, deceased spouse, or deceased ex-spouse, or on your own earnings record. You can take early retirement at 62 on your spouse's earnings records, and then when you reach your own full retirement age, switch to collecting on your own earnings record. Or the opposite, claim on your own record at 62 and switch to your spouse's later. The excellent staffs at the SS field office can provide you with all the necessary information in a half hour appointment. You can then take time to think about it and call back with your decision. If you decide right then, the staff take it from there and your payments or adjusted payments will kick in within a month.

If you were married for the requisite number of years to qualify to make a spousal claim, got divorced, remarried for the requisite number of years to spouse number 2, and then were widowed or got a second divorce, you have a choice to claim on your own earnings records OR the records of EITHER the first or second spouse. You have to have certified copies of marriage, divorce and death records for SS to access spouse's earnings records on your behalf. This procedure can be mind-boggling for many people but especially to poorly educated, unsophisticated claimants Try straightening all this out with a computer, or with an 800 number outsourced to India.