Should You Claim Social Security at 70?
Choosing a filing age for Social Security isn't easy. You're entitled to receive your full monthly benefit based on your earnings history once you reach your full retirement age, or FRA. That age is either 66, 67, or 66 and a specific number of months -- it will all depend on the year you were born.
However, you're allowed to file for benefits as early as age 62, and as late as you want -- though there's no financial incentive to hold off past the age of 70, and so it's generally considered the latest age to file.
Now if you claim your benefits at any point ahead of FRA, they'll be reduced on a permanent basis (unless you withdraw your benefits claim and repay the money you collected within 12 months -- at that point, you'll get the chance to file again). On the flip side, for each year you wait to take benefits past FRA, you'll boost them by 8% via delayed retirement credits. These credits stop accumulating at 70, though, which is why there's no sense in holding off further.
Source Fool.com
