This Social Security Decision Guarantees You'll Get a Lower Benefit, but It's Not Necessarily a Bad One
If you're eligible for Social Security benefits in retirement, you get a choice on when you sign up. You could wait until your full retirement age (FRA), which is when you're entitled to your full monthly benefit based on your earnings history. FRA is either 66, 67, or somewhere in between, depending on your year of birth.
You can also file for Social Security early if you're willing to accept a reduced monthly benefit for life. The earliest age to sign up is 62.
On the flip side, you can delay your Social Security filing beyond FRA and boost your benefits in the process. This incentive runs out at age 70, but until then, you can give your benefits a permanent 8% increase for each year you hold off on filing past FRA.
Source Fool.com
