Minimizing the Risk of Opportunity Loss in the Social Security Claiming Decision

摘要

You can start claiming your Social Security benefits at any time from age 62 to 70, but there's no one-size-fits-all way to calculate the best time to start claiming those benefits in order to maximize your actual retirement dollars. It depends on a host of factors, including earnings, life expectancy, savings, family status and retirement goals.This new research adds to the arsenal for retirement income planners and consultants. It takes the perspective of risk-the risk of not realizing the maximum possible lifetime benefits for an individual claiming Social Security-and suggests a way to counter that risk. The takeaway: Instead of optimizing the decision for your entire retirement horizon from age 62 on, optimize for a specific period within that horizon for which lifetime benefits maximization would be most valuable. This will reduce the risk of not maximizing lifetime benefits for that time of your potential retirement where Social Security might matter most.