“Despite a permanently reduced monthly benefit, here's why more workers could opt to take their payout as early as age 62.”
The Social Security Administration reports that 62% of retired Americans rely on their benefits for at least half of their income stream, with about a third of Americans relying on Social Security for almost all their post-working income. That’s been corroborated by Gallup organization surveys of retired and non-retired people, according to an article in The Motley Fool titled “Social Security: Why Claiming Early Could Be All the Rage Next Decade.” Only one in 10 people don’t depend on Social Security at all for income when they are retired.
Claiming early means a smaller monthly and lifetime benefit for you and likely for your surviving spouse. Your retirement benefits are based on your 35 highest earning, inflation adjusted, years. To max out, you’ll need to have worked for 35 years. Years with zero income can impact your overall totals.
Birth year is another factor. That determines your Full Retirement Age (FRA), the year that you become eligible to receive your full retirement benefit. Claim earlier, and you risk permanently reducing the monthly benefit by as much as a third. Claiming after your FRA could boost benefits by 32%.
Most people do start claiming Social Security benefits before their FRA, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s because they have lost their job, are over 60 and can’t get hired. Some people simply don’t know that the longer they wait to claim, the higher their benefits will be. What is clear is that 60% of retired workers in 2013 took their benefits between 62-64, with another 30% claiming between 65-66. One in 10 workers took benefits after their FRA.
There has been a change in recent years. While more people are waiting longer to claim their benefits, fewer are waiting until their FRA. The reason is tied to the headlines. People are worried that Social Security is going to be cut, and they want to get the income they can while the agency is still fully funding benefits.
The 2018 Trustees Report (officially, "The 2018 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds”) said the agency will pay out more than it collects in 2018, the first time this has occurred since 1982. The net cash outflow is expected to grow faster starting in 2020, and then by 2034, the $2.89 trillion in assets may be gone. Congress will need to act, or benefit cuts to all retirees will have to be made—by as much as 21%.
Can anyone know what will occur between now and 2034? Congress could fix any concerns by passing a bill that solves the problem, and those who claim early will be left with smaller benefits. We also don’t know when we are going to die. The decision of when to claim must be made by each individual, based on their FRA, their other sources of retirement income and their expectations for the future.
Reference: The Motley Fool (Dec. 20, 2018) “Social Security: Why Claiming Early Could Be All the Rage Next Decade”
“因每月的福利金長年地減少，這就是為什麼更多在職人士選擇提前在62歲時領取支付。”
社會保障管理局報告說，62%的退休美國人至少有一半的收入依賴他們的福利，大約三分之一的美國人依靠社會福利來獲得退休後的收入。根據The Motley Fool的一篇題為“Social Security: Why Claiming Early Could Be All the Rage Next Decade.”的文章，蓋洛普組織對退休和非退休人員的調查證實了這一點。只有十分之一的人在退休時沒有依賴社會保障以獲得收入。
提前申請意味著您和您的在生配偶可能會獲得較小的每月和終身福利。您的退休福利基於您的35個最高收入，通貨膨脹調整,工作年數。若要領取最高額的退休金，你需要工作35年。收入為零的年份會影響您的總體收入。
出生年份是另一個因素。這決定了您的完全退休年齡（FRA），即您有資格獲得全額退休福利的年份。提前申請，您可能會將每月福利金額永久性地降低三分之一。在您的完全退休年齡之後申請可以將福利額提高32%。
由於各種原因，大多數人確實開始在完全退休年齡之前申請社會福利。有時是因為他們失去了工作，已經超過60歲而且無法被雇用。有些人根本不知道他們等待申請的時間越長，他們的福利就越高。顯而易見的是，2013年60%的退休工人在62-64之間獲得了福利，另有30%的人在65-66之間獲得。十分之一的人在完全退休年齡之後獲得了福利。
近年來發生了變化。儘管有很多人願等長一點時間來領取退休金，但更少的人等待他們的完全退休年齡，原因與他們每天讀到的頭條新聞有關。人們擔心社會安全金將被用盡，他們希望該部門還能提供保障時領取收入。
2018年受託人報告（正式，“2018年聯邦老年和在生保險和聯邦殘疾保險信託基金董事會年度報告”）表示，該機構在2018年入不敷支，這是自1982年以來第一次發生這種情況。從2020年開始，淨現金額流出預計將增長更快，然後到2034年，2.89萬億美元的資產可能會消失。因此國會需要採取行動，或者必須削減所有退休人士的利益 - 高達21%。
誰能知道從現在到2034年之間會發生什麼？國會可以通過一項方案去解決社會安全金的問題。如果是這樣的話，那些提前申請的人將獲得較小的福利。我們也不知道什麼時候會死。何時領取的決定必須由每個人根據他們的完全退休年齡, 他們的其他收入來源以及他們對未來的期盼而作出。
參考: The Motley Fool (Dec. 20, 2018) “Social Security: Why Claiming Early Could Be All the Rage Next Decade”
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