Reduced benefits as early as age 62; Full benefits at Full Retirement Age (FRA); or Increased benefits, if delayed beyond FRA.
Glossary
- Full Retirement Age (FRA) - The age at which a worker, spouse, or survivor receives his/her full retirement benefit. An individual's FRA varies based on his/her year of birth.
- Initial eligibility - The earliest age at which a person is able to receive a benefit (typically age 62 for worker or spousal benefits and age 60 for survivor benefits).
- Employment record, work record, account - When filing for Social Security benefits, a person may have a choice of filing on his/her own account with the Social Security Administration (SSA) -- i.e. filing based on his/her own work history -- or filing on someone else's account (e.g. a husband filing for spousal benefits based on his wife's account).
- Worker benefits, retirement benefits, Retirement Insurance Benefits (RIB) - The benefits received by a person filing for benefits on his/her own SSA account.
- Spousal benefits - The benefits received by the spouse (and/or in some cases, the ex-spouse) of a worker, when filing for spousal benefits on the worker's account.
- Survivor benefits - The benefits a widow or widower -- and, in some cases, children or dependent parents -- is eligible to receive based on his/her deceased family member's work record.
- Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) - An amount determined by the SSA that represents a worker's anticipated monthly benefit if he/she claims at FRA. Also known as the Full Retirement Age (FRA) benefit.
- Delayed Retirement Credits - The increases a worker receives when delaying his/her own benefits after FRA. He/she will receive increased benefits for each month he/she delays up to age 70. These do not affect spousal benefits based on the worker's account but improve survivor benefits.
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