Claiming Social Security at 62 Will Cut Your Benefit Checks -- but That Might Not Be a Problem

There's a reason seniors are advised to choose their Social Security filing age carefully. The age at which you sign up will impact what your monthly benefit looks like -- for life.

What the government defines as the "full" monthly Social Security benefit you're entitled to will be based on your income history. But specifically, it's the benefit you'd receive if you began taking it at your full retirement age. For every American who still has retirement ahead of them, that age is either 66, 67, or 66 and a certain number of months, depending on the year they were born.

Meanwhile, the earliest age to claim Social Security is 62. And it's easy to see why filing then is tempting -- you start getting your money much sooner.

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Source Fool.com