1. What is my full retirement age?
It is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later, and between 66 and 67 for people born from 1955 to 1959. You can start retirement benefits as early as 62, but claiming before your full retirement age reduces the monthly benefit, and the reduction is permanent.
Source: SSA.gov: Retirement age and benefit reduction
2. What do I gain by waiting?
For each month you wait past full retirement age, up to age 70, your benefit grows. For anyone born in 1943 or later, that works out to 8 percent a year. After 70 there is no further increase, so there is nothing to gain by waiting longer.
Source: SSA.gov: Delayed retirement credits
3. Will I still be working?
If you claim before full retirement age and keep working, Social Security holds back some of your benefit when your earnings pass a yearly limit, which changes every year. The money held back is not lost: at full retirement age your benefit is recalculated to credit the months that were withheld. From full retirement age on, earnings do not reduce your benefit.
Source: SSA.gov: Receiving benefits while working
4. How does my claim affect my spouse?
A spouse can receive a benefit of up to half of the worker’s full-retirement-age amount. When one spouse dies, the survivor can generally keep the larger of the two benefits. That is why, for many couples, the higher earner’s claiming age matters twice: once for the couple, and again for whoever outlives the other.
Source: SSA.gov: Benefits for your family
5. How will it be taxed, and how does it fit with Medicare?
Depending on your other income, part of your benefit can be taxable, up to 85 percent of it.
Medicare starts at 65 whether or not you have claimed Social Security. If you have not claimed by then, you sign up for Medicare yourself. Once you do receive benefits, Part B premiums are usually taken out of them.
Source: SSA.gov: Income taxes and your Social Security benefit
Before any of it: check your earnings record
Your benefit is calculated from your earnings history. Your my Social Security account shows that history and estimates of your benefit at different claiming ages. A missing year of earnings lowers the benefit, so it is worth checking.
Source: SSA.gov: my Social Security
Social Security Planning at Osprey works through these questions with your own numbers, alongside Medicare timing and the rest of your retirement income. Social Security Planning