The Best Reason to Take Social Security Long Before Age 70
Social Security offers you a choice when it comes to taking your retirement benefits. You can start as early as age 62, but the longer you wait (up until age 70), the higher your monthly check will be. For people born in 1960 or later, their full retirement age is 67. If that describes you, taking your benefit at 62 will lower it to 70% of your projected full benefit amount, while waiting until age 70 will increase it to 124% of that amount.
The trade-off is that by starting early, you get paid for longer, while by waiting, you get a larger check each month. On the surface, it might seem better to wait until age 70 start, since by doing that you can make the most money from the system if you live long enough. Still, there are good reasons to start Social Security earlier than that. Of those, perhaps the best reason to take Social Security long before age 70 is summed up by this simple question: what will you do with the money when you're older?
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Source Fool.com
