The Best Reason to Take Social Security Long Before Age 70
Signing up for Social Security at the right time could help ensure that you get the most money from the program in your lifetime. And to this end, you'll often hear that delaying benefits until age 70 is a smart idea.
Though you're allowed to sign up for Social Security as early as age 62, you won't get the full monthly benefit you're entitled to based on your personal earnings history once you reach full retirement age, or FRA. FRA is dependent on your year of birth, but it's either 66, 67, or somewhere in between.
If you file for Social Security before FRA, your monthly benefit will be reduced on a permanent basis. On the other hand, if you delay your filing until age 70, you'll boost your benefits by 8% a year in the process. But while a higher monthly benefit may seem like a nice thing to have in theory, in practice, you may be a lot better off claiming Social Security well ahead of age 70.
Source Fool.com
