Question

Which of the following statements concerning Social Security is/are correct?

1. Worker's entitled to retirement benefits can currently take early retirement benefits as early as age 55 if they are separated from service.
2. A worker who takes early retirement benefits will receive a reduced benefit because he or she is expected to receive more monthly benefit payments, as payments commence earlier than if the worker had waited and retired at full retirement age.

		1 only.
		2 only.
		Both 1 and 2.
		Neither 1 nor 2.

Answer 1

Early Retirement Means You May Get Less

The estimates you see on your Social Security statement are based on working until that stated age. For example, if your Social Security statement says you will get $1,100 a month at age 62, that estimate assumes you'll work until you turn 62 years old.

The amount of benefits your statement says you will get at age 66 or 67 assumes you work until your 66th or 67th birthday. This means if you take early retirement your benefits are likely to be less than what you see on your statement.

Social Security benefits are calculated based on your highest 35 years of work history, with the highest 35 determined after each year of work has been indexed for inflation. If you take early retirement and you do not have a full thirty-five years of work history, your Social Security benefits may be lower than if you continue to work for a longer time period.

Retire Early and Delay Social Security

You can always take early retirement and still wait until later to begin your Social Security benefits. This is a particularly important strategy for married couples who want to make sure their surviving spouse gets a larger benefit once they are gone.

The highest monthly benefit between you and your spouse is what will become the survivor benefit amount when one of you passes—at that point, you'll only get that higher benefit amount, not both amounts.

For the purpose of maximizing your future survivor benefit, plan for the higher earner between the two of you to delay the start of benefits to age 70 if possible. When married, the lower earner, however, should often start their benefits at an earlier age.

Based on above listed details i can say that both given statements are correct