Timothy Sumer

See two of my favorite strategies for delaying your Social Security retirement benefit. There are other solutions as well, but we get into the pros and cons (and a brief example) of working longer and spending from your savings. The longer you wait to claim your Social Security benefit, the more you get. Your benefits increase by roughly 8% per year until age 70, but most people can claim as early as age 62. There’s a big difference between how much you get at age 62 and age 70. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as saying “I’ll just wait.” If you stop working before you take benefits, you’ll need a way to pay expenses before those Social Security payments come in. You can use your 401(k), IRA, or other retirement savings accounts to pay costs. Taxable accounts and other financial resources can also come in handy. But it takes some careful planning to pull this off—you’re going to take significant withdrawals from your savings, so it’s crucial to run some numbers (of course...