Why It Pays to Claim Social Security at 70 -- Despite the Long Wait
Your Social Security benefits are calculated based on your earnings during your 35 highest-paid years on the job. That's a formula you don't have any control over. What you can control, however, is how high or low your monthly benefit ends up being based on that formula.
If you claim Social Security at full retirement age, or FRA, you'll get the full monthly benefit your earnings history entitles you to. FRA is either 66, 67, or 66 and a specific number of months, depending on what year you were born. You can also claim benefits as early as age 62 -- an option many seniors jump on each year. Though filing before FRA reduces your monthly benefit, you also get to claim it sooner.
Image source: Getty Imsges.
Source Fool.com
