“When should I take social security benefits? Questions to consider”

That's the name of this article by Virginia Reno, Jasmine Tucker, and Elisa Walker of the National Academy of Social Insurance. That group has also produced the video Social Security: It Pays to Wait, which you can view here or by clicking on the emedded video below. The abstract for the Reno-Tucker-Walker piece appears below the video.

 

Abstract for Reno-Tucker-Walker piece:

This brief is one component of a toolkit of materials designed to educate workers approaching retirement about their options for taking Social Security benefits, and about why – if you can – it pays to wait. The brief is available for download here. The rest of the toolkit – a 3-minute video, a factsheet, and a brochure, can be found on NASI's website. Social Security benefits can be taken at any time between 62 and 70, but there are sound financial reasons to delay if you can. If you wait, your monthly benefits will be higher for the rest of your life. If you need Social Security to make ends meet, take it – you’ve earned it. But if you can wait, even a year or two, your monthly benefit will be higher – for the rest of your life. If you’re married, you have two lives to plan for. If you are the higher earner, waiting to take Social Security means providing a higher survivor benefit for your spouse if she or he outlives you.