— by Jim Borland, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Social Security
Every worker’s dream is to enjoy a secure retirement. Social Security is here to secure today and tomorrow. Part of that commitment is ensuring you have the most up-to-date information when you make your retirement decisions.
As the bells ring in the New Year, they also bring changes for new Social Security retirement beneficiaries. Full retirement age is 66 and two months for people born 01/02/1955 through 01/01/1956. They are eligible to receive permanently reduced retirement benefits when they turn 62 in 2017.
Full retirement age is the age at which a person first becomes entitled to full (unreduced) retirement benefits. It had been 65 for many years. However, beginning with people born in 1938 that age has been gradually increasing until it reaches 67 for people born in 1960 and later.
As the full retirement age continues to increase, there are greater reductions in benefits if you claim them before you reach full retirement age. For example, if you apply for benefits in 2017 at age 62, your monthly benefit amount will be reduced nearly 26 percent.
You can find your full retirement age, along with other important information, on SSA’s website.
Some things you must remember when you’re thinking about retirement:
- You may start receiving Social Security benefits as early as age 62 or as late as age 70. The longer you wait, the higher your monthly benefit will be.
- Your monthly benefits are reduced permanently if you start them any time before full retirement age.
- If you die, your retirement date can affect the payment to your surviving widow or widower. If you started receiving retirement benefits before full retirement age, we cannot pay your surviving spouse their full retirement age benefit amount. We base their benefit on the amount of your reduced benefits.
- If you elect to receive benefits before you reach full retirement age, you should understand how continuing to work affects your benefits.
You can learn more by reading our publication, When to Start Receiving Benefits or visiting our Retirement Planner.
NOTE:
The 115th Congress is now in session and has already expressed their rabid desire to not just “repeal” the Affordable Care Act (and delay any replacement for 2-3 years or more), but block grant Medicaid, voucherize Medicare, AND privatize Social Security, including imposition of “means-testing” that could reduce Social Security by as much as one-half, if you, God forbid, happen to have a corporate pension as well and it drives your income above what ever figure they pull out of the arses.
Rep. Tom Price, who’s been nominated as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services, a position that oversees Healthcare, Medicaid and Medicare, is right in line with where the new Republican-led Congress wants to go and in fact has been personally advocating those positions for some time.
PEOTUS trump campaigned throughout his run for the presidency claiming he was against cuts to Medicare and Social Security. It remains to be seen, given the number of promises upon which he’s already reversed his position, whether his promises about Medicare and Social Security were just red meat he threw out there to get people to vote for him, knowing that he could care less about following through to protect them.