Is It Better to Collect Social Security at 62 or 67? An Extensive Study Weighs In and Provides a Clear Answer.
For most Americans, Social Security isn't just another check they'll receive during their golden years. It represents a vital source of income that's necessary to make ends meet. After 23 years of annual surveys, national pollster Gallup has found that 80% to 90% of retirees lean on their monthly check from Social Security as either a "major" or "minor" source of income.
For the multiple generations of workers currently in the labor force, maximizing what you'll receive from Social Security is going to be a necessary goal.
But in order to optimize what you'll receive, you'll need to first understand the inner workings of how your Social Security benefit is calculated, and recognize how important your claiming age can be when it comes to monthly and lifetime benefit collection. Claiming age, and a few other personal factors, can make all the difference in deciding whether an early claim, such as age 62, or a middle-ground approach, like an age 67 claim, makes the most sense.
Source Fool.com