Retirement appears less and less likely for many people. Wages have barely improved in decades and the cost of living is going up, tempting some people to retire overseas. It could be done, but there are a ton of plans one has to make first. One can always retire abroad for much less. It's good to think that Social Security still pays benefits to overseas retired persons, though taxes on that income in a new home country may apply as well as to the United States.

Don't believe everything you read in Kiplingers Magazine. . Has anyone seen anything in a national news broadcast or well-known Newspaper about this? It generally "pays" to take early Social Security (age 62,usually) unless you are working and have a big income. Collecting money from the government and then paying it back doesn't seem like a good strategy. Unless you sock it all away and get some decent interest on it first. Did you know Social Security even offers extra credit "delayed retirement credits" if you forego any payments between full retirement age (now66) and age 72?

Go see your Social Security Office. You'll should call and make and appointment first. As other posters have said, the rules are many. If you have also worked and paid social security taxes, that will be considered. Basically, the amount you might get is computed in several ways and then the maximum benefit one is used. The various cases may be (1) your wages and lifetime contribution alone, ( 2) 50% of your spouce's amount, or (3) if disabled, the disabled amount. If you were born after a certain date, the full retirement age is increased above 65. At one time, the full retirement age was to increase in steps from 65 to 67. I have been retired long enough to have lost track of the current rules. If you are elgible at age 65 for full retirement, you can take early retirement (as early as 62) with a reduction in payments. The reduction is based on the average life expectancy. When I retired, life expectancy was age 77, e.g., half of your population group will have expired by age 77. The reduction works out to be 5/9 percent per month early, thus if you retire 3 years early, the reduction is (36 months x .05)/9 or 0.20 which is 20%. Is this bad? It depends on how long you will live. If you do not expect to live beyond 77, then early retirement is not a loss. You loose only if you live beyond 77. Here's why. If you retired at the normal age of 65, then the time span to 77 is 12 years; if retired at age 62, the time span to 77 is 15 years. Check it out. You'll find that the total money paid out over the longer time is exactly the same as that of the shorter span. For example, suppose the normal payout was $100 per month. The amount for 12 years is 12 x 12 x 100 = 14,400. Now suppose that you retired 3 years early. The payout is $80 per month. The amount for 15 years is 15 x 12 x 80 = 14,400. After age 77, the early payout plan is less than the other and the difference increases each year. Since I retired, life expectancy may have increased to 78 years. These calculations give amounts based on the current value of the dollar. As time goes by, there are COLA increases that will increase the payout to offset inflation to some degree. In my experience, the SS cost increase numbers do not fully cover the real inflation of the basics.

I "googled" your question and found this. It looks like SSA was making a verification request to establish your identity in order to establish your SSA website account (see paragraphs three and four below) and does not affect your credit score (see last paragraph). The Social Security Administration provides an “Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement” for all workers age 25 or older. The statement provides you with a history of your earnings and projected benefits. The SSA stopped mailing statements a few years ago, but you can obtain your Social Security Statement online at www.socialsecurity.gov. The online statement provides eligible workers with secure and convenient access to their Social Security earnings and benefits information. The online statement provides estimates for retirement, disability and survivor’s benefits, making the statement an important financial planning tool. In addition, the portal includes links to information about other online services, such as, applications for retirement, disability, and Medicare. When you sign up on the SSA website, they carefully verify that you are who you say you are. They ask you to provide several different types of information and to answer questions that only you should be able to answer. They may also use an identity verification service provided by Experian to help verify your identity and protect your privacy when you register to do business with them online. When the SSA makes a verification request to establish your account, Experian may use information from your credit report to help verify your identity. As a result, you may see an entry called a "soft inquiry" on your Experian credit report. This will show an inquiry by the Social Security Administration and the date of the request. Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score, and you do not incur any charges related to them. Soft inquiries are displayed in the version of the credit profile viewable only to consumers and are not reported to lenders. The soft inquiry should not appear on your credit report from Equifax or TransUnion, and will generally be removed from your Experian credit report after 25 months.