John Palmer, university professor and dean emeritus, was interviewed for the U.S. News & World Report article "The History of Your Social Security Payments." "Anytime from 62 on you could claim, but the benefit was reduced proportionally to how much earlier you did start to claim," says Palmer, who is also a former public trustee for the Medicare and Social Security programs. "Now a majority of people opt to start claiming at 62." 03/06/18