3 Reasons to Claim Social Security Benefits Early

Choosing when to claim Social Security benefits is one of the most important decisions you'll make, because it will permanently affect your monthly retirement income. To receive the full benefit amount you're theoretically entitled to, you'll need to claim benefits at your full retirement age -- which is either age 66, 66 and a certain number of months, or 67, depending on the year you were born. The Social Security program is set up so that in theory, you should receive the same amount in lifetime benefits no matter what age you begin collecting them.