Applying for Social Security benefits for retirement is a fairly straightforward application process. If you have worked enough in your lifetime to be eligible for payments, you can begin to collect your Social Security benefits at age 62. The government makes it very easy to apply for retirement benefits and to calculate approximately what you can expect to receive. Internet access is the key.
At the website http://www.ssa.gov/planners/calculators.htm you can plug in your approximate earnings information and it will calculate for you an estimate of what you can expect to receive, and you can also apply for your retirement benefits online. You can arrange to have your monthly Social Security benefits deposited directly to your bank account.
If you choose to retire and collect Social Security benefits at 62, you will receive a smaller monthly amount than if you wait until your full retirement age to begin collecting benefits. The age at which you can receive your full benefit amount is determined by the year in which you were born. If a larger monthly benefit is important to you, then waiting might be your better choice, however, some financial advisors believe that you will not make up the amount you give up for those three years by receiving the slightly higher amount. If you’re good with numbers you can figure out a fairly close estimate for yourself, and the government website will help by providing you the numbers to work with.
While you can collect Social Security benefits for retirement at 62, you will still have to wait until you’re 65 to be eligible for Medicare benefits, unless you qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. Disabled individuals can receive Medicare benefits regardless of their age.
Social Security benefits are available for the disabled for anyone who meets the rather stringent requirements to be declared disabled under government regulations. Applying for disability is a long and paperwork-intensive process, but is worthwhile if needed. The Disability amount, while also based on your earnings during your working life, are somewhat larger than the simple retirement benefit.
In addition, there is a Supplemental Social Security benefit for very low-income individuals that can be received as well as the Social Security benefit for disability. The people at the Social Security Offices are extremely knowledgeable and helpful although there can be long waits on hold to get through to a real person on the telephone. There is a huge amount of information available on the Social Security website and, in the long run, that is a much easier and more convenient way to apply for any of these benefits. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/about.htm?p