The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a brief with some startling figures about Social Security claiming. These statistics are derived from the Social Security
Administrations’s 2013 claim data, Alicia Munnell’s earlier analysis of the SSA data, and other recent sources.
Some big figures include:
- 75% of 2013 claimants filed early (that is, between the ages of 62 and 65).
- 46% of 2013 claimants filed at 62.
- Only 12% of Americans self-report an understanding of how claiming age affects benefits, according to recent surveys detailed in the brief.
Clients of financial advisors are better informed than most Americans. Nevertheless, the public is losing money to ignorance.