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A. You can. Social Security will accept your application for early benefits when you're 61 years 9 months. Regardless of how old you are, the agency generally recommends that you apply three months before you would like the first payment to arrive.
(You can start the sign-up process here up to three months before the month of your 65th birthday.) By contrast, you can start collecting Social Security anytime from age 62 to 70 and the later you start, the bigger your benefit. Just how much bigger depends on when you were born. Americans born from 1943 to 1954 have a ânormalâ or âfullâ retirement age of 66.