By Kaylee Remington
cleveland.com
(TNS)
Millions of Americans become eligible to claim Social Security retirement benefits at 62, but financial experts and federal officials warned that starting checks that early can permanently reduce monthly income for the rest of a retiree’s life.
The Social Security Administration allows early retirement benefits beginning at 62, but the agency said those who claim before reaching full retirement age receive permanently reduced payments. For workers born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67, and claiming at 62 means accepting about a 30% reduction in monthly benefits compared with waiting.
In its official guidance, the SSA cautioned that while claiming early means collecting payments for more years, the tradeoff is lower lifetime income, particularly for people who live into their 80s or beyond. The agency noted that delayed retirement credits can increase benefits for those who wait, but early reductions cannot be undone.
Despite the financial penalty when claiming at 62, surveys and filing data show that many Americans take benefits early because they need the money immediately, often after job losses, health problems, or unplanned early retirement. The earliest claiming age in the U.S. is 62.
Another common reason for early filing is concern about Social Security’s long‑term finances. An AARP poll found that nearly half of adults who claimed early said they feared the program would run out of money, even though government projections showed that payroll taxes would still fund most benefits if trust fund reserves were depleted.
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Some retirees also believe they will not live long enough to benefit from delaying their claim. That assumption can be risky, as longevity continues to rise and early claiming locks in smaller cost‑of‑living increases over time, compounding the gap between early and delayed benefits.
Others claim early because they plan to keep working, but doing so before full retirement age can trigger Social Security’s earnings test, which temporarily withholds benefits if wages exceed a set threshold.
Financial advisers also warned that early claiming can reduce spousal and survivor benefits, since those payments are often based on the worker’s benefit amount at retirement age. Claiming too soon may unintentionally leave a surviving spouse with less income later in life.
The SSA encourages individuals nearing retirement to review benefit estimates and seek gudance before making what it calls an irreversible decision.
Photo credit: Douglas Rissing/iStock
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©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit cleveland.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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