If you are over the age of 62 and have earned enough work credits for Social Security Retirement benefits you may be interested in filing for early retirement. An eligible person is able to file for these early benefits any time after they have reached the age of 62 and up until full retirement age.
However, if you choose to start collecting retirement benefits prior to full retirement age you will be penalized, meaning your monthly benefit amount is reduced. The earlier you start collecting these benefits the higher the deduction will be. Please click here to view SSA’s retirement planner.
If you have stopped working and choose to collect early retirement benefits due to your health you may also want to consider filing and application for Social Security Disability. If you are found to be disabled your monthly benefit amount will be increased to the value of your full retirement benefits. If there are any months you received early retirement benefits and are owed retroactive disability payments, you will be paid the difference between the early retirement benefits and value of the full retirement benefits.
For example, if you are entitled to $1000 in full retirement benefits and choose to take early retirement benefits at age 62 you will be entitled to 80% of the full value. Therefore, you would get $800 per month. If you were later found disabled your monthly benefit amount would be increased to $1000. You would also be awarded the $200 difference for any overlapping months you received retirement benefits and were found to be disabled.
However, if you are never approved for Social Security Disability benefits your monthly payments will remain at the reduced level.
Even if you have filed for early retirement benefits, you will not qualify for Medicare until you reach age 65. If you are approved for Social Security Disability you will become eligible for Medicare 30 months after the onset date of your disability, meaning you may be eligible to start receiving Medicare benefits prior to age 65.
