3 Things to Know About Claiming Social Security at 65

There are certain ages that are considered popular ones in the context of claiming Social Security. Age 62, for example, is a common choice, since it's the earliest age to sign up for benefits. Age 67, which is full retirement age for anyone born in 1960 or later, also tends to be a fairly popular time to file.

But you may be thinking of claiming Social Security at 65. If so, here are three things you should know.

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1. You won't get your complete monthly benefit

A lot of people equate 65 with "retirement age." But while age 65 is when Medicare eligibility typically starts, as mentioned earlier, you won't get your complete Social Security benefit if you sign up at 65. In fact, by filing two years before full retirement age, you're looking at reducing your monthly checks by about 13.34% for life.

The average monthly Social Security benefit today is about $2,002. If that's the benefit you're entitled to and you file at 65, you're looking at shrinking your monthly payments to about $1,735.

2. You don't have to sign up for Medicare

Even though you can sign up for Medicare at 65, you don't necessarily have to. You're allowed to claim Social Security alone at 65 if you don't need Medicare right away.

That said, you should know that there can be penalties for enrolling in Medicare late. It pays to sign up for Medicare at 65 unless you have qualifying group coverage through an employer health plan. If so, you'll be eligible for a special enrollment period to sign up for Medicare that will begin once your group plan coverage ends.

But if you don't qualify for a special enrollment period and you wait too long to sign up for Medicare, you risk a lifelong 10% surcharge on your Part B premiums for each 12-month period you could've enrolled but didn't. Just as problematically, you risk going for a period of time without adequate health coverage.

3. If you enroll in Medicare, your Part B premiums will be paid automatically

Although you don't have to sign up for Medicare at 65 in conjunction with claiming Social Security, you can. And if you do, you'll get to enjoy the convenience of having your monthly Part B premiums paid out of your Social Security benefits automatically.

If you're not on Social Security and you need to pay your Part B premiums directly, you can set up an automatic monthly payment through the Medicare account you create. Having those payments made automatically is a good way to ensure you don't fall behind and risk having your coverage terminated.

Should you claim Social Security at 65?

The upside of signing up for Social Security at 65 is that you're not waiting too long to get your money, but you're also not reducing your monthly benefits too badly. Plus, there's the convenience of enrolling in Social Security and Medicare at the same time.

But if you don't need Medicare right away, and you can't easily afford a reduction in your Social Security checks, then you may want to wait a bit longer. And even if you do decide to enroll in Medicare at 65, there's absolutely no pressure to file for Social Security at the same time. You can hold off until full retirement age if that works better for your finances, or even beyond that point if your goal is to boost your monthly benefits.

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