1. Social Security Disability
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  3. Glossary
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  5. Delayed Retirement Benefits

Delayed Retirement Benefits

The Social Security Administration offers three typical retirement benefit options (SSA). All are dependent on the applicant’s date of birth and age at the time of application:

Early Retirement – at the age of 62, eligibility
Full Retirement – eligible at 65 or 66 years of age if born prior to 1960 OR at 67 years of age if born after 1960
Delayed Retirement ā€” any period after attaining full retirement age
If you receive Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits, you are eligible for early retirement, but not for delayed retirement.

For some candidates, early retirement is advantageous and may result in an increase in the amount of your monthly benefit payments.

Employees who postpone retirement can receive “Delayed Retirement Credits” to boost the amount of their monthly benefits payments. These credits accumulate based on the number of months workers wait after reaching full retirement age to apply for retirement benefits (age 65 to 67).

If you are receiving SSD benefits, you do not have the option of deferring retirement. Rather than that, after you reach the age of full retirement, the SSA automatically converts your SSD benefits to retirement benefits.