Your 70th birthday is a big one, and one worth celebrating. But it’s also an age that has significant implications in the context of retirement. If you’ll be turning 70 in 2023, here’s what you need to know.
1. It’s time to sign up for Social Security
You’ll often hear that it’s a good idea to delay your Social Security filing. The reason? Holding off on claiming benefits past full retirement age (FRA) could result in a substantial boost. And if you don’t have the largest nest egg, that extra money could come in very handy.
For each year you hold off on filing for Social Security past FRA, your benefits get to grow by 8%. And if you’re turning 70 in 2023, it means your FRA was 66. In that case, claiming Social Security at 70 means snagging a 32% boost — not too shabby.
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But once you turn 70, you can no longer accrue the delayed retirement credits that allow your Social Security benefits to grow. So at that point, there’s no financial reason to delay your filing.
If you don’t happen to sign up for benefits on your exact 70th birthday, don’t worry — as long as you do so within six months, Social Security will pay you benefits retroactively to that point. But since there’s no incentive to delay, you might as well make a Social Security claim a 70th birthday present to yourself.
2. You can keep working even if you’re claiming benefits
Some people retire well before the age of 70. But if you’re still working, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, you can still collect a monthly benefit from Social Security. And because you’ll have reached FRA already, you can earn any amount of income from a job without it impacting your benefits whatsoever.
In fact, if you continue working well into your 70s, you might manage to boost your monthly Social Security benefits down the line. Your benefits are calculated based on your 35 highest-paid years in the workforce. If you work until your mid-70s, you might replace some years of lower income with a higher income.
3. You don’t have to tap your retirement savings just yet
It used to be the case that once you turned 70 1/2, you had to start thinking about required minimum distributions (RMDs) in your traditional IRA, 401(k), or Roth 401(k). But the rules changed a few years ago, and now, RMDs don’t begin until age 72.
In fact, lawmakers have actually been working to pass a major spending bill that includes some changes to retirement plans. One change is that RMDs wouldn’t begin to apply until age 73, not 72 — so you may get even more time to leave your savings alone and let your money grow.
That said, if you have your retirement savings in a Roth IRA, you don’t have to concern yourself with RMDs at all. In fact, a lot of people specifically choose to save in a Roth IRA for that reason.
Turning 70 is pretty major. Keep these key points in mind as the big day rolls around.
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