Ask Larry

How Do I Figure Out How Much My Benefit Will Be Reduced If I Start Drawing Early?

I would like to retire this year, November 1st, 2021. I will be 66 years old on 11/2/2021. I am 2 months short of the 66 years and 2 months for full social security. How do I figure out how much my benefit will be reduced>

Thank you.

Hi. If you start drawing at full retirement age (FRA), your Social Security retirement benefit rate will be paid at a rate of 100% of your primary insurance amount (PIA). If you start drawing before then, your benefit rate will be reduced by 5/9ths of 1% for each month that you start drawing early. Thus, if you start drawing 2 months prior to the month you reach FRA your benefit rate will be reduced by roughly 1.1%. In other words, you'd receive roughly 98.9% of your PIA.

You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry

Posted: 
Apr 21 2021 - 9:40am
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