Key Points
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You can claim Social Security at any time once you turn 62.
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Waiting until age 70 results in significantly boosted benefits for life.
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Though delaying doesn’t always make sense, it can work out well financially under the right circumstances.
Once you turn 62, you can claim Social Security at any time. And while there’s technically no “final age” to sign up for Social Security, it doesn’t pay to delay your claim past age 70.
At full retirement age, which is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later, you’ll get your monthly benefit without a reduction. If you delay your claim past that point, your benefits will increase 8% a year until your 70th birthday.
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Based on all of this, you might assume that 70 is the optimal age to file for Social Security. But that’s not a given across the board.
In some cases, claiming Social Security at 70 could backfire and result in less lifetime income or other consequences. But if the following scenarios apply to you, filing for Social Security at 70 could be a savvy choice that pays off big time.
1. You expect to live a long life
When you claim Social Security at 70, you give up years of payments by default. So it’s important to make sure you expect to live long enough to make up for those missed payments.
Now you can’t see into the future and predict how long you’ll live exactly. But you can use your health and family history as a starting point.
If your health is great in your early 60s and you have parents who are still alive and pushing 90, it means you may have a long life ahead of you. In that case, claiming Social Security at 70 could result in larger benefits not only on a monthly basis but also a lifetime basis.
2. You don’t have enough savings to support yourself
It’s important to have income outside of Social Security in retirement. But if your savings are minimal and won’t come close to covering your living costs, then you may need to lean more heavily on Social Security to pick up the slack.
If that’s the case, boosted benefits could spell the difference between covering your expenses and falling behind. And if you’re able to grow your benefits by delaying your claim until 70, you may find that you’re able to keep up with your bills even with a small IRA or 401(k).
3. You have a spouse you’re trying to look out for
If you’re the higher earner in your household and pass away before your spouse, your spouse will be entitled to survivor benefits from Social Security. And those survivor benefits will equal the amount you got to collect.
If you delay Social Security until 70, your monthly checks will be larger. As a result, your spouse’s survivor benefits will be larger.
You shouldn’t go into retirement assuming that claiming Social Security at 70 is your smartest move off the bat. But in these situations, waiting until 70 to file could put more Social Security in your pocket and improve your household finances on a whole.
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