Ask three friends when you should start Social Security, and you’ll probably get three confident, completely different answers.
One guy at the barbecue will tell you to take it at 62 because you’ve paid into the system your whole life. Another will insist you’re leaving money on the table if you don’t wait until 70.
They might both be right for their own situations. But your neighbor isn’t paying your bills or managing your taxes. The right time for you depends on your health, savings, spouse, income needs, and what you want retirement to look like.
You can generally start your own Social Security retirement benefit at 62. Full retirement age is when you qualify for your unreduced benefit. For people born in 1960 or later, that age is generally 67.
Here’s a simple hypothetical example. Assume your full retirement age is 67 and your benefit at that age is $2,000 a month. Before taxes and future cost-of-living adjustments:
Those delayed credits equal 8% of your full retirement benefit for each year you wait past 67. Waiting beyond 70 doesn’t earn additional delayed retirement credits.
Retiring and claiming Social Security are separate decisions. You can stop working at 62 and wait to claim.
If you claim before full retirement age while working, earnings above the applicable limit can cause benefits to be temporarily withheld. At full retirement age, Social Security recalculates your benefit to give you credit for the months affected.
Taking Social Security early isn’t automatically a mistake. If you need income to cover the bills, claiming may reduce the amount you need to withdraw from savings today.
Health and family history matter, too. Serious health concerns can be a reason to consider starting sooner. For married couples, we still need to consider the income a surviving spouse may need.
And think about how you want to spend your 60s. Traveling while you feel well, spending time with grandchildren, or leaving a stressful job matters. Those priorities belong in the conversation, alongside what a smaller benefit could mean later.
If you’re in good health and can comfortably cover expenses while waiting, a larger monthly benefit can provide valuable income later—especially if you live into your late 80s or 90s.
For married couples, waiting can also help protect a surviving spouse.
Two full Social Security checks generally don’t continue after one spouse dies. An eligible survivor generally receives the higher benefit, with the amount depending partly on when survivor benefits begin. When the higher earner delays claiming, those delayed retirement credits can increase the survivor benefit available to their spouse. Even when only one person is filing, it can be a two-person decision.
A break-even chart estimates when the cumulative benefits from waiting would catch up with claiming earlier. That age changes depending on the claiming ages and assumptions being compared.
I think that math is useful. But you still have to pay for groceries while you wait.
Suppose you retire at 64 and delay Social Security until 70. That leaves six years of expenses to cover from savings, a pension, your spouse’s income, or other resources.
We’d want to see how those withdrawals would affect your accounts, including during a market decline. We also need to consider whether the larger benefit later would make that tradeoff worthwhile.
Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits may be included in your federal taxable income, depending on your other income and filing status. The actual tax depends on your tax rate.
That makes claiming part of a larger tax-planning conversation.
The years after work ends and before Social Security begins may create opportunities for IRA withdrawals or Roth conversions at favorable rates. But delaying benefits doesn’t automatically lower taxes. Additional withdrawals to cover your expenses may raise taxable income, too.
Coordinating those decisions may help you manage taxes over your retirement.
Couples also don’t necessarily need to claim at the same age. In some situations, one spouse starting earlier while the higher earner waits can fit the household’s needs.
At Martin Wealth Solutions, our retirement planning process looks at Social Security alongside your income needs, investments, taxes, healthcare, and family goals.
You probably won’t know in advance which claiming month would produce the most lifetime benefits. You can still make a thoughtful decision based on the information you have.
I want you to understand why you’re claiming when you are, where your income will come from while you wait, and what the decision could mean for your spouse.
If you’d like to see how different claiming ages fit your retirement plan, schedule a call with our team.
About the author:
Jim S. Martin is the founder and a fiduciary financial advisor at Martin Wealth Solutions. He helps people age 50 and older make informed decisions about retirement income, taxes, investments, Social Security, and Medicare. Through the firm’s SmartWealth System™, Jim helps bring those decisions together into a coordinated retirement plan. With offices in Roanoke, Christiansburg, and Lynchburg, Virginia, the firm serves local families and clients nationwide. Jim also hosts the Smart Wealth and Retirement podcast.
This article is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not provide personalized investment, tax, or legal advice or recommend any particular investment or strategy. Decisions should reflect your individual circumstances and be discussed with your financial advisor, tax professional, or attorney, as appropriate.Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. No investment or planning strategy can guarantee a particular outcome. Information reflects the laws and circumstances at the time of publication and may change. Although sources are believed to be reliable, accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed.
This article is educational and is not individualized financial or tax advice. Social Security rules and your personal circumstances can affect your options.
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