Get More Social Security Checks by Delaying Payout
If you can delay getting Social Security money for several years, you can get higher monthly checks for the rest of your life.
Deferring your Social Security payments is one of the best ways to increase your retirement income. Your monthly government check will often be three-quarters more if you demand 70 instead of 62, said Lawrence Kotlikoff, professor of economics at Boston University and author of Get What Is Yours: Secrets to Maximizing Your Social Security. … “
How can you close the income gap in years when you are not applying for Social Security? CNBC offers IRA withdrawals that you can start accepting at age 59 1/2.
The researchers found that more than a third of beneficiaries who claim Social Security before age 66 – the current full retirement age for most people – have enough money in the IRA to fund the equivalent of at least two years of Social Security benefits. A quarter of them were enough to finance at least four years.
You can also fill this gap with personal investment, savings, money earned from reducing house sizes to smaller ones, etc. You can even stay in your job for a few more years – which many of us plan to do anyway – or pick up a side bustle.
If you can’t live several years without Social Security, even delaying retirement for a short period of time (such as six months) can increase those Social Security checks. The wait pays off – literally.
I know some of us find it a little difficult to imagine what our retirement might look like, especially if we are millennials who have been told that social security might not even be there when we retire. However, if you’re nearing retirement age and have enough money to live without requiring Social Security income, deferring it for now could bring big checks down the road.