You can claim Social Security beginning at age 62. And while there's no such thing as a final age to sign up for Social Security, there's also no financial incentive to delay your filing beyond the age of 70.
As such, filers are generally considered to have an eight-year window for claiming Social Security. But that means you have a lot to think about before taking benefits. And it also means you'll want to be careful not to fall victim to these two potentially huge mistakes.
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1. Not getting an estimate of your monthly benefit before filing
You're entitled to your full monthly Social Security benefit based on your earnings history once you reach full retirement age (FRA). FRA is either 66, 67, or somewhere in the middle, based on your year of birth.
Claiming Social Security before FRA will result in a reduced monthly benefit -- even if you only sign up a couple of months ahead of schedule. But delaying your filing past FRA will result in a boosted benefit for life.
Either way, one mistake you don't want to make is claiming Social Security before getting an estimate of what your monthly benefit looks like. If you don't know that number, you might file too soon and struggle financially throughout retirement as a result.
Let's say you're counting on getting $2,000 a month from Social Security, but you're only entitled to $1,700 a month at FRA. Knowing that you're only looking at a $1,700 monthly paycheck might inspire you to delay your filing -- but you won't know you should do that without an estimate of your benefits.
The good news is that estimating your monthly benefits is easy. All you need to do is check the last earnings statement the Social Security Administration (SSA) sent you in the mail (you should start getting those at age 60). And if you've already lost or tossed it out, you can create an account on the SSA's website and access your most recent earnings statement there.
2. Not consulting your spouse before filing
The amount of money you receive from Social Security every month won't just impact you -- it could also end up impacting your spouse. And so it's a good idea to talk about when you should file for benefits rather than make that decision solo.
Once you pass away, your spouse will be entitled to survivors benefits from Social Security. And those will be worth 100% of the sum you collect every month.
You may be inclined to sign up for Social Security at age 62 to get your money sooner. But doing so could result in a much lower benefit than what you'd get by filing at FRA or beyond.
You may be OK with that hit. But if you have a much younger spouse, they may not be too happy to learn that you've slashed that monthly benefit by claiming early. So for the sake of a financially healthy household (and one that's also devoid of marital strife), it pays to make claiming Social Security a joint decision when you're part of a married couple.
There's a good chance Social Security will be an important source of retirement income for you as well as your spouse. So make a point not to fall victim to these blunders in the course of finalizing your filing decision.
