The Best Time to Claim Social Security?

It Depends

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By Christine Benz | 08-23-2012 10:15 AM

The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

Delaying Social Security benefits until age 70 offers the best return for retirees, but there are instances when it's helpful to claim as early as possible.

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The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

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for Morningstar. Deciding when to claim Social Security benefits is a hugely complicated process, and it's compounded when you're trying to plan for two spouses. Joining me to share some recent research into this area is David Blanchett. He is head of retirement research for Morningstar Investment Management. David, thank you so much for being here.

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David Blanchett: Thank you for having me. Benz: David, you took a look at optimal ages at which to claim Social Security. This is obviously a very complicated topic. There have in fact been new software tools that have popped up to help seniors make sense of this decision-making. Let's first cycle through some of the key factors that should go into making a good

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The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

http://www.morningstar.com/cover/videocenter.aspx?id=565732

decision about what age to claim benefits. Blanchett: First, this is one of the most important decisions for most retirees. I would advise anyone that's thinking about when to claim benefits to spend a lot of time on this. This is a very, very important issue. There is a lot of kind of unique considerations with Social Security. There is your health; how much you expect to earn if you're married; what your income is from other assets; your portfolio; how you plan to invest. There are all these kinds of unique considerations that make it kind of really hard to figure out what's best for everyone. Every person is different in terms of what is the best approach for each individual. Benz: Whether you plan to continue to work is also in the mix. Blanchett: Correct. Because if you claim early, [the Internal Revenue Service] can tax your benefits. There are all these very complicated rules involved with figuring out what is the best time to claim your Social Security. Benz: And one of the biggies is truly unknowable, that's your expectation of your own life expectancy, because if you have some knowledge that you'll have a much longer-than-average life expectancy, delaying is the better strategy. Blanchett: Yes. It's like any annuity. The longer you're going to live, the more the annuity pays off. Benz: Ultimately, you concluded, as some other researchers into this area have, that many people would be better off waiting at least until their full retirement age, possibly even until the latest possible age which is 70, to claim benefits. Let's talk about what factors you determined in your research that point to delaying as being a good strategy. Blanchett: When you think about Social Security claim age, when you can start receiving benefits, most people over the next five years, their full retirement age is age 66. The earliest they can claim is age 62. You can actually claim past age 70, but there is no benefit to doing so. So, if you wait until 70, you should definitely claim because you don't increase the benefit past age 70. So the question is, "What age should I claim my benefits?" If you delay from age

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The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

http://www.morningstar.com/cover/videocenter.aspx?id=565732

62 to age 70, your benefit increases by 72% or 76%, but the problem is you have to fund income for that eight-year period. What I found was that Social Security is a very valuable benefit that is effectively an inflation-adjusted annuity, and the longer you can wait, the better off you usually are because it's really hard to replicate that kind of income with a portfolio.
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Benz: One other point that you made that I think is really interesting, David, is that seniors sometimes experience cognitive decline, and that would argue against one of the reasons that people say sometimes you should take it as soon as possible that you can take that money and invest it. Let's talk about your thesis there. Blanchett: Every study for the most part on Social Security talks about investing the difference. So if you claim at age 62, you'll get some extra income that you wouldn't get if you waited until age 66. You're going to invest those monies and then make up the difference in income over your life span. And I think that's a good idea; it's a good concept. The problem is that investors' abilities to make good decisions declines as they age. So Social Security is a guaranteed inflation-adjusted annuity. And I think that's very viable for someone who is age 90 or age 95 who really doesn't have the ability to know what is a good investment, how should I be investing, or what can I actually afford to take out from my portfolio. So transferring money into an annuity I think is better the older you are for a host of reasons. Benz: Lets talk about the thesis behind claiming earlier. In what scenarios would that strategy make sense? What would you want to have in your profile that would make that an effective strategy? Blanchett: I think the number-one reason for someone to claim earlier is if they need to retire and they don't have savings at all. So if you are age 62 and you simply have to retire, you have no other savings, you have no choice. You can't choose to delay because you can't fund that with your saved assets. So that would

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The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

http://www.morningstar.com/cover/videocenter.aspx?id=565732

be the person in my opinion who is ideal to claim early, or [it could also be] someone who is unhealthy. Delaying benefits is smart if you are going to live to age 85 or 90, but if you're going to live to age 75, you should probably claim as early as possible. Benz: Last thing I want to touch on, and this opens a whole other can of worms, but spousal strategies for claiming Social Security. It's complicated enough for one person to figure out what to do, and it's even more complicated when you have two spouses, oftentimes of different ages, oftentimes of completely different earnings history. You've got maybe one spouse with a lot of earnings over his or her lifetime, the other one with fewer. Let's talk about some of the variables there and some of the key things that spouses should keep in mind when attempting to figure out the right age to claim benefits. Blanchett: So a spouse's benefit is not affected by when the primary worker claims their Social Security benefits. It's basically when that spouse claims the benefits. The key benefit for the spouse is the spousal survivor benefit. When the primary worker passes away, the spouse is entitled to a benefit amount that is equal to the either primary worker's benefit or their benefit whichever is greater. So if the spouse has a smaller benefit, they get kind of an increase in their benefit when the worker passes away, and that can be significant for someone who didn't work or who is very young. So if your spouse is eight years younger, for example, and you're the primary worker, then if you pass away, the additional income your spouse can receive from your delaying benefits can be significant because the base spousal benefits is half of the primary worker's benefits. So your spouse's benefit can increase by a 100% or more by delaying past age 66 to age 70, for example. Benz: If you have a much younger spouse, a good rule of thumb is to, if you possibly can, put off the receipt of that benefit because your spouse's benefit hinges on when you do your claiming. Blanchett: Yes. Obviously the spouse will only receive that benefit if they outlive you, but there is still a definite benefit there if their benefit is a lot smaller than yours and they are a lot younger.

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The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

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Benz: Let's discuss the thinking behind another common strategy called file and suspend. What goes on there, and where can that strategy make sense for people? Blanchett: I guess my comment on that is there are lots of very complex, nuanced things you can do with Social Security. And if you're thinking about doing [file and suspend], I would highly recommend talking to a financial planner and get all the nuances in [such as strategy] correct. But the idea is that you can go ahead and start receiving benefits for your spouse and then get your full benefit later. So you can file and suspend benefits. You used to be able to actually claim benefits early and then say, "Wait a minute, I'm going to change my mind and pay them back." There was actually legislation back in 2010 that you can't repay benefits anymore. So Social Security is kind of an ongoing complex decision that is always changing. Benz: Well, David, thanks for sharing your research. This is such an important area and as you say, such an important component of so many retirees' plans. It's good to hear some concrete strategies. Blanchett: Thank you. Benz: Thanks for watching. I'm Christine Benz for Morningstar.

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The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

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kensmiles Aug 29 2012, 7:38 AM Flag

"...investors' abilities to make good decisions declines as they age." While this is frequently true, there are usually relatives or professionals available to help. I don't see how cognitive decline should be an issue in most cases. Thanks for an excellent discussion regarding an exceedingly complex issue.

mws17 Aug 29 2012, 9:14 AM Flag

pbyrley Aug 29 2012, 10:08 AM Flag

I'll read it in a minute but, I gotta say, it's really getting confusing ... right up there with where to put the safe part of my retirement portfolio. Thank goodness I cant tinker with my Federal retirement (CSRS annuity) pension - before TSR. There is another reason to take the money at 66. RMD's on retirement plans kick in at seventy and a half. By starting SS at 66, some people who do not need withdrawals from retirement plans to cover expenses can have several years of lower taxes by collecting SS and paying taxes on a much lower portion of it than would be the case after RMD's push their taxable income and the taxes they pay on SS up.

retiredgary Aug 29 2012, 11:50 AM Flag

NormanR Aug 29 2012, 12:10 PM Flag

Yes, this is a difficult thing to figure out. In my case, I've decided to take the money at FRA and use it to offset withdrawals from my retirement accounts. In other words, I will withdraw less from those account by using SS to offset them. So I'll have more money working for me in my retirement accounts, for which I make the decisions. Alternatively, I could have delayed SS benefits to 70 with the hope and prayer that the government operates in a manner which is to my benefit. In other words, taxing workers, and passing the proceeds to me, a retiree. Somehow, I don't think that's the way this scenario is going to play out. "What I found was that Social Security is a very valuable benefit that is effectively an inflation-adjusted annuity, and the longer you can wait, the better off you usually are because it's really hard to replicate that kind of income with a portfolio."

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The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

http://www.morningstar.com/cover/videocenter.aspx?id=565732

Yes, it is difficult to replicate. But I'd suggest any reader also consider the benefits of working a year or two longer while saving what they can while delaying SS benefits. In my case, I'm working part time and I'll be maxing out my Roth IRA while I work and while I collect SS benefits. Yes, there may be an income tax hit. But that's one of the things about this perverse system. Collect from the SS "trust fund" and pass a portion to the government via income taxes, so they can flush it on pork projects, etc.
NormanR Aug 29 2012, 12:15 PM Flag

@kensmiles Yes, there are "usually relatives...available to help." But the statistics about family members who take advantage of seniors is very disheartening. My advice to seniors of which I am one is simple "trust no one." It's useful to remember that greed is one of the most powerful forces in human beings.

FidlStix Aug 29 2012, 1:03 PM Flag

I started S S at 66 instead of waiting 'til I'm 70 (I'm now 69 and still working full time) partly so I could continue funding a Roth at the max $6K / year. The Roth has returned 10% per year in the 5 1/2 years since I started it. Last year, 11.8%. So far, so good - at a 10% gain in the next 12 months, it'll return about $4,700 - pretty close to parity with the increase in S S I would have gained by waiting 4 years to claim. Of course, that extra 21% from S S is a fairly sure thing, while 10% from the Roth going forward is far from sure . . .

cgajowski Aug 29 2012, 1:55 PM Flag

It is fairly easy to "decide" to claim Social Security if you are eligible and have no other source of income; it is also easy to decide to delay if you are working, have a high probability of a long life, and would lose a lot to taxes ,so might as well wait until maximizing it at 70. And if you are a part of a married couple you can essentially game the system as advised here and in other articles to get the most. It's in- between, and for single filers where there's more to consider.

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The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

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I anticipate living past 90, barring accidental death.... What i cannot seem to figure out is - as someone not earning income at this point (65)- whether it is better to use SS for life expenses beginning at 66 or 67, and retain savings ( at least the Roth part) as long as I can, or to use as much of the Trad IRA as need be to delay taking SS until 70. And I have checked out different scenarios, As far as the question of becoming so demented that I won't be able to make good decisions -- not quite yet, thank you. Although I was perfectly capable of making bad decisions when a lot younger --- Did it occur to Mr Blanchett that there are a lot of seniors who are utilizing MStar because we continue to be investors of our own retirement savings? And will stay invested - must be invested - as we expect to be kicking around in 20-30 years? Plus - an unpopular topic - so if you are "cognitively disadvantaged" how are you going to evaluate the performance of an advisor? Anyway, it is true that sometime down the road this will likely become harder or impossible... and I still do not know that the best solution is to rush to set up an annuity. It is akin to the decision about Long term Care Insurance... murky waters.
polkster0 Aug 29 2012, 2:06 PM Flag

If delaying benefits until age 70 offered the best return for most retirees, the actuarials who design the intricate rules governing SS retirement benefits would be screwing up. The goal is that the amount paid out will be the same no matter when you start drawing benefits. Delaying "withdrawal" until age 70 will usually result in the largest monthly payment (assuming you live to age 70). (I use quotes on withdrawal, because the language of contributions, withdrawals and the like are polite fictions.) In any event, delaying the withdrawal date will increase the monthly payment (if you are alive to receive the monthly payment), but on a statistical basis, is not likely to increase your total return. Studies have shown that most Americans greatly overestimate their life expectancy. (I know that most Morningstar subscribers are the type of folks that are trying to plan for every possible contingency. The possibility of living to 120 must be considered, after all.) The statement that, on average, folks now 65 will live another 20 years is misleading. Its not like most of those 65 year olds will still be alive 20 years from now, and suddenly they'll all die. Rather, half of them will die before 20 years have passed, with a significant

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The Best Time to Claim Social Security? It Depends

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percentage dieing off each year until then. Consider if SS changed the rules, and removed 70 as the limit for monthly benefit payment increases in exchange for delaying withdrawal (the actuarials could calculate this out to any age). So, let's say you could delay benefits until age 110, but then receive $100K/mo. Such a deal! Great insurance in that worst case scenario where you live to be 120.
bobk47 Aug 29 2012, 7:28 PM Flag

Polkster is right about total payouts on AVERAGE not being affected by the age SS is taken because that is how the actuaries do it. However, you as an individual do not care about averages. You have to take into account your situation. If you consider your biggest risk is longevity then you are best to delay taking payments, but this is only one factor and it may not be the most important to some. I say this with some tongue-in-cheek, but since SS is pretty much on a pay-as-you-go basis now (in other words payroll taxes withheld pretty much equal payments to seniors) I felt we might want to start receiving some benefits early because we have three kids paying into social security. Might as well be us collecting the money. After all, the government just transfers the money from one group to another so at least this way some of the benefit my wife and I are getting we can pass back to the kids (without using the government as the transfer agent).
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