When should you sign up for Social Security?

You are first eligible when you turn 62, but should you take it then? You will get 25% less than the amount at full retirement age which is 66 for most now looking at retirement if you do. I believe you should only take social security before age 70 if you really need the money to live on or your health is not good. If you wait until age 70, then your monthly benefit is 32% more than it would be at age 66. In other words for each year you wait after full retirement age of 66 you get another 8% increase in your monthly benefit. That is a pretty good return and it is for life. After age 70, there is no longer any increase in benefits if you wait. If you are married, then the spouse with the higher lifetime income should wait until age 70, but the other spouse could claim at full retirement age. Only 4 percent of women and 2 percent of men wait until age 70 to collect social security benefits per the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.