Divorced in Retirement? 20 Ways to Maintain Your Financial Independence

7. Take Social Security Early

If you were born in 1937 or earlier, full retirement age is 65. This doesn’t mean you have to wait until your full retirement age to collect Social Security, however. Workers can claim retirement benefits from Social Security as early as age 62.

The tradeoff is that your benefit is reduced from the amount you’d receive at full retirement age. For those born in 1937 or earlier, the reduction is 20 percent, scaling up to a 30 percent reduction for those born in 1960 or later. If you need income to stabilize your finances, however, you might consider starting your benefits early.