You're entitled to sign up for your full monthly Social Security benefit based on your personal wage history once you arrive at full retirement age, or FRA. FRA is either 66, 67, or somewhere in between, depending on the year you were born.
However, you're not required to wait until FRA arrives to claim Social Security. You're allowed to take benefits as early as age 62.
Filing for Social Security before FRA, however, will result in a reduced monthly benefit for life. And that has the potential to result in a lot of financial stress.
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As such, Social Security recipients are often advised to wait until FRA to sign up for benefits. But you may have had your reasons for filing early.
What if you're regretting that at this point, though? Whether you claimed Social Security three years early or three months early, a reduced benefit may not be sitting well with you. So if that's the case, here are your options.
1. Undo your filing
If it's been less than a year since you started collecting Social Security, here's some good news: You get one do-over in your lifetime. So if you're now regretting your early filing, you can simply withdraw your benefits application, repay all of the money you've received in Social Security so far, and file again at a later date.
This could be the most ideal avenue to explore if you're worried about being stuck with a smaller monthly benefit for life. And even if you've already spent the money you collected from Social Security, if it's possible to dip into your savings to repay those benefits, you may want to do so, provided that won't leave you with absolutely nothing.
Remember, you may end up living well into your 80s, 90s, or beyond. So having a higher benefit for life locked in can definitely be a good thing.
2. Cut back on expenses to accommodate a smaller monthly benefit
Maybe it's been more than a year since you claimed Social Security. In that case, you can't simply undo your early filing. What you may need to do instead is figure out a way to make your smaller monthly benefit work.
One option to consider there is relocating to a part of the country where living costs are lower in general. Or, consider selling your home if it's worth a lot and either downsizing, or moving to an area where you can get the same amount of square footage for less.
It may also be possible to shed some non-housing expenses. If you can get by without a vehicle because you're living in a walkable city, that's a lot of bills you can dump -- car payments, maintenance, and auto insurance, to name a few.
3. Rejoin the workforce in some capacity to drum up income
If it's too late to undo your Social Security claim and you're not too excited to cut back on expenses (or you don't have many you can reasonably cut back on), another option is to start working again in some capacity. And you may be surprised at the number of flexible options you have these days thanks to the gig economy.
If you love to craft, you may be able to set up an online shop and sell your creations for extra cash. If you're a lifelong piano player with the patience to teach others, you may be able to offer lessons out of your home. And if you decide not to dump your car in retirement, you could use it to earn money by shuttling passengers around town.
If you filed for Social Security before FRA, you may now be questioning that decision big time. You should know that in some cases, undoing your filing is an option. But if not, rethinking your expenses and considering part-time work are choices you may need to fall back on.
