Taking Social Security Benefits can be a guessing game unless you do your research to figure out what age to take benefits the best for you. Do you receive benefits at the earliest age or wait until your full benefit age? Will you die in early retirement or live a longer life than you imagined? These are the challenging questions many pre-retirees ask because it can add up to thousands of dollars over your lifetime. Most people want to get their benefits sooner than later, not realizing that the odds are in their favor for living longer than they thought. Pre-retirees need to plan for the long-haul, or so to speak each generation, on average, is living longer than the previous.
Finding out your ‘break even’ age for Social Security is important to determine what age is best to start taking benefits.
Once you make the decision and start benefits at a specific age, you can’t change your decision since it is essentially ‘locked-in’ for life. Benefit amounts will not increase, aside from the occasional small cost of living increases.
The best way to determine when to start taking benefits is by running a break-even analysis to find your break-even benefit age. The break-even age is when an individual’s total lifetime Social Security benefits received would be equal to the benefit amount, but using a different claiming age. When doing your pre-retirement income planning, the break-even analysis is a crucial piece of information to consider.
Deciding to start Social Security benefits at the first opportunity or delaying benefits is a personal decision. Factors to consider are other retirement assets available and their value, genetic health factors, and outstanding debt and lifestyle considerations. If you would like more information on social security benefits and implementing it into your financial plan along with other assets, contact our office for a meeting.
