Full Retirement Age

• An individual may retire at the age of 62, but this is not "full retirement age" and her benefits will be reduced until she reaches full retirement age. Depending on the year you were born, full retirement age can be at any age between 65 and 70. Those individuals who choose to retire before they reach their full retirement age will have their benefits reduced a fraction of a percent each month.
  
  

Documentation

• When applying for social security retirement benefits, there is certain documentation that must be furnished before being approved. This includes a valid social security number, as well as a birth certificate and proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful alien status if you were not born in the United States. If a retiree is applying for children's benefits, he will need to furnish the birth certificate of each child. If the retiree's spouse is also applying for social security retirement benefits, she also must supply her birth certificate.
  
  

Earned Credits

• The amount of social security retiree benefits will depend on how much the retiree earned throughout her working career. In order to receive social security benefits, a retiree must have earned enough working credits. Even though the retiree may have reached retirement age, that does not guarantee any or high benefit payments. If the retiree did not work in some years, or earned low wages, her social security benefit payments will be lower because those two factors reduce the number of working credits she earned.
  
  

Continue Working

• People who receive social security retirement benefits may continue working. By working, the individual can increase his future benefits or the benefits of his children and surviving spouse. However, for individuals born in certain years, their continued employment will decrease their earnings and benefits until they reach full retirement age. Once those individuals have reached full retirement age, they may receive full benefits regardless of their employment income.
  
  

Family Member Benefits

• Social security retirement benefits allow the spouse of a retiree to apply for benefits even if she is divorced. If the marriage was on record for at least 10 years, the divorced spouse may receive benefits from the retiree's social security account. Rules require the divorced spouse to be at least 62 years of age and unmarried. The amount that the divorced spouse receives will not affect the retiree's current spouse's benefits. Rules also allow a divorced spouse of at least two years to receive social security retiree benefits even if her spouse has yet to retire, as long as she is 62.