Although you can be approved to collect Social Security benefits between age 62 and your full retirement age, this option lowers the benefits available for retirement. For example, if you were born in 1944 and decide to retire at age 62 (four years before your full retirement age of 66), your total benefit reduction is 25 percent. If your full benefit was to be $1,000 a month, your reduced benefit will be $750.

By: Bernard A. Krooks, Certified Elder Law Attorney® Unfortunately, Medicare coverage of long-term care is extremely limited and subject to significant restrictions. Thus, if one of us or a loved one gets sick and requires long-term care we must either pay out-of-pocket or rely on Medicaid. One way to minimize the burden of paying out-of-pocket…