Early, full, or delayed? Deciding when to start your Social Security benefits is one of the most important choices in your retirement journey. In this episode of Elevate Wealth, Deanne Rosso and Brian Rosso break down what to consider, including your health, income needs, and whether you plan to keep working.

Timing is everything, especially with Social Security. Should you start your benefits early or at your full retirement age or beyond? We'll explain today on Elevate Wealth. Welcome back. I'm Deanne Rosso, president and CEO of Elevate Wealth Advisory. And today we're talking about Social Security and taking a closer look at when to start your retirement benefits. And I'm joined today by our Director of Operations and Wealth Adviser, Brian Rosso. Hello, Brian. Hey, so Brian, what are the factors that people should consider when deciding when is the best time for them to start Social Security? Yeah, that's a really good question, Deanne. And the answer is going to be different for everyone. But overall, there's three main ages and milestones that you want to look out for. The first one being age 62. That's typically when you can start taking a benefit. Okay. But by doing so, you are going to take a reduced benefit for your lifetime. And it's pretty substantial. It can be up to 30% reduction in your benefit. Oh, wow. That's a big reduction for sure. It's a big hit. But the other age you want to look out for is your full retirement age. And for most, that's going to be age 67. And that can vary a little bit based on your your birth year. But if you wait till your full retirement age, that is going to be what you can accept for your full unreduced benefit. Okay. Then you can also delay later than your full retirement age. Okay. And you can delay up until age 70, and you can get 8% per year increases in your social security benefit plus the cost of living adjustments on top of that. Oh wow. Okay. So basically between the ages of 62 and 70, right? You get an increase each year for waiting, but really at age 67 approximately is most people's full retirement age. Right. That's right. And that's when you get your full unreduced benefit. Yeah. There's a big difference between drawing early at 62 and waiting and delaying for a bonus at age 70. So, it can make a dramatic difference on the monthly benefit and then also your overall lifetime benefit. Right. So, what exactly are some of the things that people should consider when they're trying to determine when they should start Social Security? Yeah, I mean there's a lot of factors as you can imagine would that are involved in that, but the first is just overall life expectancy. you know, if you're a relatively healthy person and longevity is in your family, then maybe delaying is a good idea for you. The second one we consider is your sources of income. Do you have other sources of income you can supplement with without taking Social Security and allowing that benefit to grow? During this stage of life we call transition flexibility is key and a lot can go into the retirement planning to making sure that you're maximizing each source of income at certain points in your life. Absolutely. So thank you, Brian. That's really those are really key points to consider and deciding when to take Social Security is not easy. It's a key piece of the puzzle but it really is individually dependent on every person and what their situation is. So having a clear strategy for this decision can help set you up for success later on. It really can. I appreciate your insight today, Brian. And if you have questions about Social Security, when's the best time for you to file for your benefits, we're here to help. Visit us at elevate-wealth.com and click "Let's talk." Thank you for joining us today.