So you’ve worked hard your entire life slaving away at a job you may or may not have liked. Unlike most people in society, you did the responsible thing and saved for your retirement and now you’re looking forward to the good years. Many people don’t know the different numbers involved in retirement such as at what age different benefits kick in and that’s really what I’d like to talk about in this article today.
When you retire depends on many different things. One of the main things of course is retirement savings. Most people can’t retire until they have enough money set aside to live off of for the rest of their natural life. But money isn’t the only thing to consider, many people choose not to retire till as late as possible because they really love their job. Whatever you use to determine when or when not to retire, there are certain ages that you need to be aware of where certain benefits kick in.
When you turn 55 years old you usually have the option of a penalty free withdrawal from any company retirement plans you may have. Usually this has something to do with separation of service though, so keep that in mind.
When you turn age 59 1/2, you can take advantage of a “no penalty” on any withdrawals from your current IRA account or other retirement plans or retirement accounts. You don’t have to take your money out then in every case but you can if you so choose to.
When you turn 62 years old, that is the earliest age that you can collect Social Security retirement benefits. Again, you aren’t required to begin collecting Social Security at that age that but you have the option to. Realize that your Social Security payments will be lower if you take this early retirement age. Also realize that widows and widowers also have the option of receiving benefits much earlier, sometimes at the age of only 60.
When you turn 65 to 67 years old your full Social Security benefits are available if you haven’t already begun taking them. Exact age depends on the specific year in which you yourself were born and you can find more information on that at the Social Security services office themselves.
At the age of 70 1/2 you’ll have to start taking minimum distributions from most retirement accounts. Luckily you can continue to invest tax-deferred in a Roth IRA even after this age.
So there you have several different ages that you need to know about when it comes to retirement. Hopefully you won’t care about any of this because you’ll be too busy hanging out on the beach in some tropical paradise somewhere without a care in the world, but it’s still good to know anyway.
Tim Breundle runs a electric shavers for men web site where he also reviews the best panasonic electric shaver for guys. He has been an article writer online for well over 8 years and also enjoys fishing and soccer.
