Regardless of what a person's full retirement age is, he may start receiving benefits as early as age sixty two. If a person decides to take his retirement benefits early, he receives benefits at a reduced rate, a fraction of a percent for each month before his full retirement age. There are advantages and disadvantages to taking retirement benefits early. A claimant can collect benefits for a longer period of time if he starts early but his benefits will be permanently reduced. The reduction in monthly benefits applied for early retirement is a sliding scale, ranging from a 20% reduction for people born in 1937 who retire at 62, up to a 30% reduction for people born in 1960 or later who retire at 62.