Overview
- Claiming Social Security at 62 instead of full retirement age cuts monthly benefits by about 30 percent, a permanent reduction that compounds over time through smaller cost-of-living increases.
- Delaying benefits past full retirement age raises payments by roughly 8 percent per year up to age 70, so working longer or finding a short-term job can materially boost lifetime income.
- Social Security benefits are calculated from your 35 highest-earning years so a later lower-wage job only changes your benefit if it displaces a higher or zero year on that list.
- Employer programs like Meta’s $115 million Workforce Academy offer free training, stipends and guaranteed contractor roles in four states that can provide wages to cover living costs while delaying claiming.
- The Social Security trustees project trust fund reserves could be exhausted in the fourth quarter of 2032, meaning payroll tax revenue alone might pay only about three-quarters of scheduled benefits and keeping claiming choices and personal strategies especially consequential for retirees.