how much does early retirement affect social security benefits 
you can take social security benefits as early as age 62 but doing so will permanently reduce your benefits to 70 of what you would have received at full retirement age 2can i work after full retirement age you can collect social security retirement benefits at full retirement age while continuing to work but your benefits will be temporarily reduced if you begin collecting social security before your full retirement age and you earn over 22 320 in 2024 there s no limit on how much you can earn while collecting full benefits beginning with the month and year in which you reach your fra but 1 will be deducted for every 3 you earn over 59 520 in 2024 up to the month before you reach fra these earnings thresholds are periodically adjusted to keep pace with inflation 25the bottom linefull or normal retirement age is the age at which you can begin to collect your full social security benefits the exact age depends on the year you were born it s 67 if you were born in 1960 or later you can collect social security benefits before you reach your full retirement age beginning at age 62 but doing so will permanently reduce your monthly benefit 