If I begin drawing social security is there a difference in the ‘monthly’ if I wait

Q) My birthday is in March. I am 65 now and will be 66 in March, 2014. If I begin drawing social security in December, 2013, or, wait until March, 2014 – is there a difference in the ‘monthly’, all other things remaining equal??

Also – can I draw social security as income, and ‘shelter’ working income in a 401 K or IRA thereby decreaing that working income amount; eg. increase 401 K and/or IRA contribution to reduce income while applying the SS to living expenses?? Annual ‘gross’ income number would not be changed, but the SS dollars would be accessible.

A) Your full retirement age Is 67

Remember, the earliest a person can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits will remain age 62.

If you start receiving retirement benefits at

age 62, you will get 70% of the monthly benefit because you will be getting benefits for an additional 60 months.
age 65, you will get 86.7% of the monthly benefit because you will be getting benefits for an additional 24 months.

A) Pension payments, annuities, and the interest or dividends from your savings and investments are not earnings for Social Security purposes.

Only earned income, your wages or net income from self-employment, is covered by Social Security.

You may have to pay income tax on pensions, annuities, interest or dividends, but you do not pay Social Security taxes. Those types of income are not on your Social Security record.




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