Here's How Much Your Social Security Shrinks if You File Early
Social Security retirement benefits provide a lifelong source of income that goes up along with inflation. Half of married seniors and around 70% of unmarried elderly persons rely on Social Security to provide at least half their retirement income. Yet millions of preretirees don't know much about how their monthly Social Security income will be determined or what impact their actions will have on their benefits.
Filing early is one action that affects your monthly check.
One definition of filing early is to claim benefits prior to an age designated by law as your full retirement age (FRA). Depending on when your designated FRA is and the age when you first begin receiving benefits, you could cut your monthly check by as much as 30%. This reduction means you get less income every year. But because you may get more total checks than if you waited until later in life to start receiving them, your total benefits from Social Security are not necessarily reduced.
Source Fool.com