Social Security and Early Retirement at Age 55: Rules to Know

Eager about retiring early? The thought will be tempting, however earlier than making any choices, you’ll need to fastidiously contemplate your monetary scenario.

It’s attainable to retire early at age 55, however most individuals will not be eligible for Social Safety retirement advantages till they’re 62, and usually folks should wait till age 59 ½ to make penalty-free withdrawals from 401(ok)s or different retirement accounts.

Individuals with 401(ok)s at work could possibly to withdraw cash early from these accounts penalty-free — in the event that they depart their jobs at age 55 and up (that is usually known as the “rule of 55”).

Can I accumulate Social Safety and different retirement advantages at age 55?

In case you retire at age 55, you most likely received’t be eligible to obtain Social Safety retirement advantages for a number of years or be capable of withdraw cash out of your retirement accounts with out paying a ten% early withdrawal penalty. Moreover, for most individuals, Medicare received’t kick in for an additional 10 years.

Though you possibly can start receiving Social Safety advantages at age 62, that is usually not the most effective time to start out. The Social Safety Administration reduces your test by as a lot as 30% for all times for those who begin taking advantages earlier than you attain full retirement age. Nevertheless, you’ll obtain 100% of your profit for those who elect to attend till full retirement age, and you will get a bonus for yearly (as much as age 70) that you just delay taking advantages^[0].

One different factor to notice is that the extra you pay in Social Safety tax (usually by way of payroll taxes withheld out of your paychecks), the upper your Social Safety retirement advantages are. Accordingly, leaving the workforce early may have an effect on the scale of your eventual Social Safety retirement profit^[0].

How can I bridge an revenue hole if I retire at 55?

Though retiring early at age 55 doesn’t make you eligible for Social Safety or most authorities advantages for retirees, there are a number of exceptions and methods to know that would show you how to bridge an revenue hole.

Normally, you’ll be topic to a 10% early withdrawal penalty for those who take cash out of your 401(ok) earlier than you’re 59 ½. However in response to the IRS, these circumstances could permit you to skip the penalty:

Typically, cash taken out of an IRA earlier than age 59 ½ is topic to a ten% early withdrawal penalty except certainly one of these exceptions applies:

• You change into completely and completely disabled.

• You may have certified larger schooling bills.

• You conform to take “a sequence of considerably equal periodic funds over your life expectancy.”

• You’re a first-time house purchaser (for withdrawals as much as $10,000).

• You had tax-deductible medical bills that exceeded 7.5% of your adjusted gross revenue.

• You have been a reservist known as to lively responsibility^[0].

Relying on the place you’ve labored, you could possibly take withdrawals from a pension on or earlier than you flip 55. Test together with your employer to see for those who’re eligible. Lecturers in California, for instance, may be capable of retire at age 55 if they’ve a minimum of 5 years of service credit score^[0]. Members of the U.S. army, in the meantime, usually can retire at any age after 20 years of service^[0].

Though most forms of retirement accounts restrict how a lot you possibly can contribute in a 12 months, there are often no limits to how a lot you possibly can spend money on high-yield financial savings accounts, shares, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds or different funding automobiles. Particularly, bonds, bond funds, dividend shares and dividend funds may present month-to-month revenue no matter your age.

Do you personal a house? If that’s the case, a house fairness line of credit score, or HELOC, could also be an choice. These loans allow you to borrow towards the fairness in your house without having to promote or refinance your property. The charges for a HELOC fluctuate, and you could repay the mortgage.