This week, I’m explaining social security retirement benefits and a few of the more important considerations you’ll want to keep in mind as you decide when to begin collecting your checks.

Today, I’m talking about whether or not it’s a good idea to wait as long as possible to start collecting social security. 

If you’re in good health and you expect to live into your mid-70s or longer, you’ll most likely want to consider waiting as long as possible to start social security. 

Why? Most Americans should plan to live into their 80s, which means that taking social security somewhere between age 67-70 makes the most sense. 

As I discussed in yesterday’s tip, the difference in lifetime income between starting social security as early as possible at 62 vs. waiting until age 70 was nearly $600,000 for the client I told you about yesterday. 

If you’re going to hold off on starting social security, this naturally leads to an important question: where do you draw income from instead if you’re going to retire before you start those social security checks? 

The clients I told you about yesterday won’t start social security for close to 10 years AFTER they retire, so we’re going to take higher withdrawals from their portfolio to fill the gap, and then lower those withdrawals once social security starts. This strategy makes sense for a lot of people, as long as those higher withdrawals in the early years are sustainable and won’t drain your investment portfolio. You’ll want to run the numbers for yourself to see if that pencils out. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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