You have the option to start getting Social Security checks beginning at the age of 62. You don’t have to get your first payment so young, though. You can delay for years, and in fact, many experts recommend putting off your claim for benefits until 70 if you can. The advantage of waiting is that your benefit gets slightly bigger each month you delay.
However, while waiting can make sense for some people, it may not be right for you. There are lots of reasons you may want to start getting payments in 2024, regardless of how old you are or whether you’ve reached age 70. Some of those reasons are better than others, but here’s the single best reason to begin your benefits next year.
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You may want to claim Social Security in 2024 if this is your situation
The absolute best reason to start your retirement benefits in 2024 is if doing so would enable you to retire without spending down your savings too quickly. See, if you want or need to leave work next year, you’ll need money to support yourself. You might have a pension from your employer to help with that. Sadly, though, most people don’t because pensions are not very common (in the private sector especially).
If you can’t count on an employer continuing to provide for you, there are most likely two potential resources you can tap: Social Security and your savings. It may be tempting to just live on savings while putting off your benefits claim and letting your retirement checks grow bigger. Indeed, this can be a great strategy if making this choice doesn’t cause your account balance to decline too dramatically.
Specifically, you most likely want to keep your withdrawal rate to 4% or less of your balance. If you’re withdrawing too much more than that, you’ll deplete your resources too quickly, won’t have enough invested to keep earning the returns you need, and will likely find yourself without savings at some point in retirement.
Don’t give up your savings just to put off a Social Security claim
The absolute last thing you want to do is cause your savings to dwindle to nothing just because of your hopes of getting a bigger monthly Social Security payment by waiting to claim it. If you end up with no savings at all or very little invested, you’ll eventually have to rely on Social Security as your sole support source.
And it’s not meant to be your only source of income. It replaces only about 40% of pre-retirement income. Most people simply can’t sustain their lifestyle on less than half of what they were earning.
You need both savings and Social Security to be comfortable. So, if you have no choice but to risk wiping out your savings to delay and increase Social Security, you’d be making a huge mistake you’d likely regret.
Instead, if you’ve made your retirement budget and see that withdrawing from savings at a safe withdrawal rate won’t cut it without Social Security as a supplement, claiming benefits ASAP is the right choice. So, if you’re retiring in 2024 (or are already retired) and need Social Security to preserve your savings, be sure to get those checks coming, even if that means an early claim.
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