Should We Raise Social Security's Earliest Eligibility Age?
IB#18
Introduction
Social Security's Earliest Eligibility Age (EEA) allows one to claim reduced benefits as early as age 62. For full benefits, individuals must wait until the Normal Retirement Age (NRA), which was traditionally 65 but is gradually increasing to 67. So, Americans have a choice to make when they reach their early 60s: claim a reduced Social Security benefit right away or delay until some further date and receive a larger benefit. The reduction for claiming benefits early is designed to be actuarially fair, i.e. monthly benefits are lowered by an amount that offsets the longer period for which they will be received. The total amount that the average person can expect to receive over his or her lifetime thus does not depend on when benefits are claimed...
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All the authors are currently or formerly affiliated with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Alicia H. Munnell is the director of the Center and the Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management Sciences at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. Kevin B. Meme is a research associate. Natalia A. Jivan is a graduate research assistant. And Kevin Cahill was formerly the associate director for research. The authors would like to thank Gary Burtless, Peter Diamond, Steven Sass, and Eugene Steuerle for helpful comments on a draft version of the full study from which this brief is derived.