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January 30, 2012
The Wisdom of Waiting for Social Security

Find out how waiting to begin drawing Social Security benefits can help you ensure a more solid financial future.

Transcript

Many people begin drawing Social Security as soon as they become eligible for reduced benefits at age 62. Unfortunately, they may not realize that starting benefits before reaching full retirement age will reduce their monthly check by up to 30 percent – for the rest of their life.

On the other hand, if you postpone receiving Social Security, your benefit will increase for each year you wait to retire up to age 70. In particular, people with longer life expectancies may want to delay benefits as long as possible. When you think about it, where else can you get a guaranteed annual rate of return of up to 8 percent?

Bottom line: Crunch the numbers before beginning to collect Social Security.

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