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Early, Full, and Maximum Retirement Ages Defined & Explained
While one can claim retirement benefits as early as age 62, the monthly amount will be reduced. One need wait until full retirement age, also known as normal retirement age, to receive 100% of one’s benefit. This article details the gradual phase-in from 65 to 67 for full retirement age, a plan set in motion by a 1983 change in the law designed to shore up Social Security’s finances. Further, the exact percentage that one’s benefit will be reduced depends on the precise age one claims Social Security early. Waiting until age 70 yields the absolute highest and maximum benefit, with 8% annual increases between full and max retirement ages, a rate of return designed to entice people to defer until age 70. Read the full piece by Kiplinger here.