Here's Exactly How Much Claiming Social Security Early Costs You
The biggest choice that each potential Social Security recipient faces is when to claim benefits. The program provides a baseline of what it calls full retirement age, and if that's when you claim, then you'll receive a base amount of monthly benefits tied to your work history. In general, the more money you've made during your career, the higher your monthly Social Security check will be.
However, many people decide not to wait until their full retirement age (FRA) to take their Social Security benefits. The Social Security Administration is actually quite flexible on that front, but the earlier you start getting benefits, the smaller they'll be. Here are the specifics on calculating just how big a hit your checks will take if you make an early Social Security claim.
Exactly how much you lose from claiming Social Security early depends on what type of benefit you're receiving and how early you claim. For every month prior to FRA that you claim retired worker benefits based on your own work history, up to 36 months, the reduction in your monthly check will be 5/9ths of a percentage point.
Source Fool.com
