We’ve all heard the advice: Wait until you’re 70 to claim Social Security and you’ll get the biggest possible monthly check. Tim F., a retired healthcare worker from Arizona, followed this advice to the letter. But now, at 75, he’s having second thoughts.
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GOBankingRates spoke with Tim to understand why he wishes he’d claimed his benefits earlier. His insights might just change the way you think about your own retirement plans.
Tim thought he was doing everything right.
“Everything you read says you should wait until 70 if you can,” he shared. “I guess I thought, well, I can, so I should. I didn’t stop to think about if that was actually the best plan for me.”
Tim likes larger monthly checks, but he’s not sure they were worth the price.
“Looking back, I would’ve wanted that extra money when my wife was still around.”
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Tim’s wife, Sarah, passed away at 68 before they could claim their benefits together.
“Sarah and I had plans,” Tim shared. “We were definitely thinking in the long term when we probably should’ve been more realistic about how much time we had left.”
Tim is not sure what advice comes out of this other than live for today (and make sure to go to the doctor regularly).
Tim said he didn’t give much thought to how his own health might change as he got older.
“I’m not as active as I was in my 30s — heck, even my 40s,” he said. “When you get older, a year means potentially a lot of health changes. I wish I’d just taken the money earlier and used it partially for trips and partially in a high-interest savings account. Hindsight is 20/20!”
Financial advisors talk about the “break-even point” — that’s the age when the total benefits you get from waiting outweigh what you would’ve gotten by claiming earlier.
“They told me I’d break even around 82,” Tim said. “But when you’re 75, 82 feels pretty far off. I wish I’d thought more about enjoying the present rather than always planning for the future.”
Tim didn’t consider the potential to invest some of his Social Security income if he’d claimed earlier.
“I’m not an investing powerhouse,” Tim shared. “But I could’ve put the money in a high-interest savings account and made it work for me. Oh well.”
