RSS FeedA recent New York Times article discusses whether the best time to retire is at 62 (early retirement) or at 70. Its conclusion: hold out as long as you can. This must, however, be taken with a grain of salt. Getting the timing of retirement right depends on several factors, and no two families are exactly alike.
For a single person, probably the most important question is how long do you plan to live? If you are "in poor health and probably won't live past 78," you might want to take benefits at early retirement, says the Times. Ideally, if you expect to live a long time and can work past retirement, then 70 is the best time to take benefits.
If long life is the expectation, but you can't work till 70, then 66 seems to be the magic number. This option is best even if a retiree has to use retirement savings to make it to 66 to file for Social Security benefits. That's because the increase in benefits gained by retiring at 66 instead of 62, eventually makes up for the savings used to make it to 66. Waiting any longer than 66, seems to exhaust savings too much to make up for higher Social Security benefits.
For married couples, according to the Times, experts advise the following:
In many cases, the higher-earning spouse should delay his or her benefits until age 70, while the lower earner begins to collect at age 62. This ensures that the surviving spouse will end up with the maximum amount of benefits for the rest of his or her life.
If you have already taken early retirement benefits but wish you hadn't, you can pay them back to the government, interest-free, and reapply for benefits at age 70. Economist Laurence Kotlikoff explains how this "do over" works, and it can increase your standard of living by as much as 60 percent!
Tags: double dipping social security, Early Retirement, kotlikoff, sean shurtleff, Social Security benefits
3 Responses to “With Social Security Benefits, Timing is Everything”
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Helium
August 8th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Let’s just hope there IS Social Security to receive when they reach 66 =( Americans need to plan their own security, one that is guaranteed to happen and for some, there is a far simpler way to receive a lump sum of tax-free retirement income and it is a way to begin a Family Legacy of generational wealth. http://missedfortuneinsider.blogspot.com/2009/07/family-legacy.html
If I knew how long I’m going to live … I’d play a lottery
February 16th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
[...] With Social Security Benefits, Timing is Everything | Retirement Reform Policy | NCPA For married couples, according to the Times, experts advise the following: In many cases, the higher-earning spouse should delay his or her benefits until age 70, while the lower earner begins to collect at age 62. This ensures that the surviving spouse will end up with the maximum amount of benefits for the rest of his or her life. [...]