Go see your Social Security Office. You'll should call and make and appointment first. As other posters have said, the rules are many. If you have also worked and paid social security taxes, that will be considered. Basically, the amount you might get is computed in several ways and then the maximum benefit one is used. The various cases may be (1) your wages and lifetime contribution alone, ( 2) 50% of your spouce's amount, or (3) if disabled, the disabled amount. If you were born after a certain date, the full retirement age is increased above 65. At one time, the full retirement age was to increase in steps from 65 to 67. I have been retired long enough to have lost track of the current rules. If you are elgible at age 65 for full retirement, you can take early retirement (as early as 62) with a reduction in payments. The reduction is based on the average life expectancy. When I retired, life expectancy was age 77, e.g., half of your population group will have expired by age 77. The reduction works out to be 5/9 percent per month early, thus if you retire 3 years early, the reduction is (36 months x .05)/9 or 0.20 which is 20%. Is this bad? It depends on how long you will live. If you do not expect to live beyond 77, then early retirement is not a loss. You loose only if you live beyond 77. Here's why. If you retired at the normal age of 65, then the time span to 77 is 12 years; if retired at age 62, the time span to 77 is 15 years. Check it out. You'll find that the total money paid out over the longer time is exactly the same as that of the shorter span. For example, suppose the normal payout was $100 per month. The amount for 12 years is 12 x 12 x 100 = 14,400. Now suppose that you retired 3 years early. The payout is $80 per month. The amount for 15 years is 15 x 12 x 80 = 14,400. After age 77, the early payout plan is less than the other and the difference increases each year. Since I retired, life expectancy may have increased to 78 years. These calculations give amounts based on the current value of the dollar. As time goes by, there are COLA increases that will increase the payout to offset inflation to some degree. In my experience, the SS cost increase numbers do not fully cover the real inflation of the basics.

chisue, FICA tax was designed to pay for social security benefits and it's been overcharging for that purpose since it started. Also, remember that self employed people (as I was) pay double the amount, currently 15.2%. It's a heavy tax and more isn't needed. alisande, economically it's a free country. There's a (maybe inadequate) safety net for those who falter or fare less well than others, but isn't each individual alone responsible for their lot in life and to take care of themselves and any others they support? I won't go along with any Robin Hood sentiment, those who obey the law and work hard to do well are entitled to their rewards. Those who don't strive and try anything possible to improve their own financial adequacy or well-being will do poorly and are entitled to those consequences too. There should be far more programs to help people redirect their lives and learn market-demanded job skills but beyond that, hmmm.

I signed up for Social Security at age 62. I applied online. A day later a Social Security worker phoned me to ask one question and told me the amount I would receive and the date SS would start. Painless. Then about three months before I turned 65 I received my Medicare card through the mail. Because I was already getting SS I was automatically sent a Medicare card. Both Part A and Part B are shown on the card. If I chose not to pay for Part B the instructions said to mail back the card and they would send me a card for Part A only. If I chose to keep Part B with premiums deducted from my SS checks I was to separate the Medicare card from the rest of the paperwork they sent and put it in my wallet. Nothing more needed to be done. Easy peasy. I never drove anywhere to stand in any line to sign up for either Social Security or Medicare. Kessala

Most people do not have any idea what life was like before Social Security. It was a life saver for so many elderly people who couldn't work anymore. I was raised by a single mother. My father died when I was 6. My father was a soldier in WW1 and got the 1918 flu. He was left with a bad heart. He got a disability from the VA but he worked after discharge as an electrician. He paid into Social Security. My mother was born in 1908 and had no education, was put to work as a child as were her other sisters. The boys went to school, but the girls worked domestic work. I was born when my mother was 48. My two brothers were 20 -22 yrs older. Married, working and had families. My mother raised me as an only child. My mother had no education, could not read or write. Never went to school. But was strict about her children having a good education. My father taught me to read at age 4. After he died, I had to work as soon as I got working papers. I worked at a library, after school for $40.00 a month. I handed her that money. After high school, the VA paid for College but I still had to work full time to help my mother. I attended Community College at night after work. Long and short, everyone has their stories why Social Security saved their lives and their families. I can't imagine what would have happened to me and my mother without it. My father, as a disabled Veteran left my mother a pension and along with that and Social Security, and my working from a young age, helped us to have a good life. VA even paid for me to attend College for 4 yrs. Until you walk in other peoples shoes, don't make comments that you haven't lived or understand. Jane