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I always thought waiting until 67 to take Social Security was the responsible choice, until life gave me a reason not to.
I retired early, but I’ll save that story for another time.
What mattered then was this, I’d earned enough credits to claim Social Security at 62. Under Jonathan’s guidance, the plan was simple, we wait until 67 and lock in a larger monthly check. It was sound advice, grounded in math and discipline. So I held onto it.
Then everything changed.
Jonathan received a terminal diagnosis.
All the careful planning, the spreadsheets, the projections, the idea of a long, steady retirement suddenly felt fragile. You spend years preparing for the future. What you don’t plan for is the moment when the future becomes uncertain.
After his diagnosis, my twin brother Nick and I made a different decision. We claimed Social Security in early 2025, at around 64 1/2.
A quick “back of the envelope” calculation put my break even age for waiting until 67 in the low 80s—around 83. Live beyond eighty three, and delaying pays off. And if you don’t, it doesn’t. Simple enough on paper.
But life isn’t lived on paper.
I used to say longevity runs in our family. Now I’m not so sure. The truth is, none of us knows how long we have. That realization shifts the question from what’s optimal to something more personal: what matters now?
At 65, I can still travel and experience things I’ve put off. But life has its own constraints. Settling my sister’s estate has kept me close to home. My mother, who turns 87 in June, needs my help. Like many, I’m trying to find that balance between responsibility and living while I can.
There’s a lesson in all of this, and it isn’t that everyone should claim Social Security early. For some, waiting will absolutely be the right call.
The real lesson is about flexibility and balance.
We’re often told to optimize: Maximize benefits, minimize taxes, delay gratification. And those things matter. But so does recognizing when life changes the equation.
Retirement planning isn’t just about numbers. It’s about time, time we assume we’ll have, but aren’t guaranteed.
Some people carry expensive lifestyles into retirement and pay the price later. Jonathan always preached the opposite: go into retirement without a mortgage, keep your life manageable, and give yourself options. In a way, that mindset is what made my decision easier—because flexibility matters when life doesn’t go as planned.
We spend years planning for a future that isn’t guaranteed. At some point, the plan has to make room for living.
My husband and I claimed at FRA. We both wanted to keep working, but we used the SS payments to buy plane tickets and rent an apartment near our then infant granddaughter. Worked very well. Eighteen years later, we still have that apartment and are still buying plane tickets. No regrets.
Thanks for your post Andrew.
In Jonathan’s 10/18/2024 forum post Just the Facts he offered readers seven guidelines for claiming Social Security where he also wrote “the right strategy will vary from one person to the next, and it’s important not to get bulldozed into making the wrong choice”.
I agree.
Your post expands those guidelines by adding an eighth, that as you say “flexibility matters when life doesn’t go as planned”.
I also agree.
For those who have not yet made the claiming decision I would encourage them to know that the Social Security rules do have current limitations on the ability to change or reverse your social security claiming decision once made which generally becomes irrevocable 12 months after the initial entitlement.
My recommendation for most things financial that is still taped to the top of my old calculator – “Anything is possible, and the unexpected is inevitable. Proceed accordingly.” (From a strategic philosophy regarding friction, chance, and uncertainty in war, commonly attributed to the 19th-century Prussian general and military theorist Carl von Clausewitz)
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Best wishes for a happy retirement Andrew. Bill
Thank you Bill for commenting and sharing some words of wisdom. That’s what HD has always been about.
A few good things about claiming early:
If you make it to/past 83 you’ll be happy that you’re still alive.
And, at that age in life you’re highly likely to spend less than you did in your 60s and 70s–at least on fun things.
Good point Ben, thanks for sharing.
Andrew, terrific article. Unlike Dan and Kathy below, I did consider breakeven, although I was doing my weighing at age 65 (one year before FRA) versus waiting until 70. When that breakeven age came up about the same as yours, 84, I took the benefits.
I have no doubt that my decision was influenced by the same consideration as yours — my own terminal diagnosis ten years ago. Although a medical breakthrough reversed that situation and I’m fully healthy, I remained acutely aware of how life can end early. I’ve been enjoying my benefits for four years now. No regrets.
Mike, thank you so much for sharing your personal story. I am so glad you are fully recovered and can enjoy your SS benefits.
So many great points made in this article, Andrew. Claiming Social Security truly is a personal decision. However, many people start with a conclusion—wanting to claim early—and work backward to justify it, instead of letting the big picture guide them.
I waited until 70, Chris filed at 64. I had a job I liked, I only worked hard from January 15 to April 15. I was more or less retired for the other nine months. Chrissy was getting burned out at her job. Her reduced SS income would have no effect on our lifestyle. The last of us to die will enjoy my greater benefit. I think the ‘big picture’ supported the decision for me to delay, and for Chris to claim early.
My wife and I did the same thing as you both did. She is 4 years younger than me and started taking her SS benefit at age 62 in 2011. At the same time, I claimed ONLY my spousal benefit at age 66 (I retired the previous year at age 65) so collected benefits on her earnings record for 4 years. Then in 2015 I claimed MY SS benefit at age 75 for a full 32% more than my FRA benefit amount! I am 81 now am very happy that my wife will collect my 4-year delayed SS benefit as her survivor benefit when I precede her in death, whenever that happens. 🙂
Oops, I claimed MY SS benefit in 2015 at age 70, not age 75.
Thank you Dan for commenting and sharing with us your own personal decisions. And you had a great job!
As David says, it is so sad that Jonathan didn’t get to enjoy his well-planned retirement. As I’ve written here before, I retired at 53 in order to travel “before I got too decrepit”, so I am a big proponent of carpe diem. However, I made a different decision about Social Security. I have never been interested in my “break even” date: what I wanted was the largest available basis for future cost of living adjustments. I waited until 70 and I won’t regret it whether or not I make it to break even.
Like you, I did not consider ‘break even’. To me, it did not seem relevant to our situation.
Ditto. My goal remains to preserve the largest possible COLA’d annuity for my wife. If she were to pre-decease me, I’d take it immediately as I have a decent pension and am comfortable w both managing our portfolio and adjusting my lifestyle as needed.
Great post, Andrew! There is an ongoing debate here on Humble Dollar regarding Social Security benefits and how to balance that break-even point with what you called “when the future becomes uncertain”: should a person take SS early so as to have the money earlier in retirement years when additional travel and etc. might cause higher expenses or should a person wait until 70 for the maximum benefit amount making it easier to afford potential higher medical expenses and/or leave an enhanced spousal benefit? I believe this is a very personal issue. I know how my wife and I fall on that continuum, and you have explained yours very well!
Thank you Dave for commenting and sharing your story. It’s definitely a personal decision and one you have to be comfortable with.
Andrew, thanks for writing this. I was nodding along at several of your points b/c we have been through similar things the past few years. Retirement isn’t just numbers and spreadsheets, life can get in the way. We ended up taking SS about the same timeline as you. We are grateful for it. Chris
Thanks Chris, I had to read your first sentence twice, I thought you were nodding off as you read my article! Phew.
LOL! C
Andrew other than the emotional toll on your family another sadness with Jonathan’s passing is that he spent so much time teaching people how to retire with financial safety to be able to enjoy a long retirement that he didn’t get to experience for himself.
Now knowing him as much as I do I can’t imagine that he would have stopped his writing and editing until at least his 90s if he had been so blessed because it was a huge part of his being.
However he also taught us how money is not just for stacking bills higher and higher on a pile, but how it is a tool to enjoy living while we are alive, which he did.
Thank you David, Jonathan was very proud of HD and yes I believe he would have kept it going although he may have cut back on it. He told me he spent 60 hours a week on it.
60? Wow. That’s the mark of a passion, a true calling.
That’s exactly why the pundits who say you always wait are just clueless. You should wait as late as possible if you need the money to survive. If you have nothing else else saved then early retirement should not even be in the picture. If you have other assets and social security is not critical to your day to day survival, then I see nothing wrong with taking it earlier than FRA or even 70. I have responded here many times that I’ll take it earlier and leave my retirement assets to my heirs. I can’t do that with social security. Some may not agree but I am 100% certain this is the right path for me.
Thank you Mike for your wisdom,
makes sense to me.
Andrew, a really grounded perspective. For me, it all comes down to understanding what your personal “enough” looks like. Beyond that point, the siren call of “more” risks optimising the joy out of early middle age and retirement.
I retired at 58 during my peak earning years — financially, you could argue that’s a significant mistake. But I’d already accumulated more than my personal “enough,” and life has more to offer than an ever-growing financial buffer.
Debating social security claiming strategy when you’ve already hit your own definition of “enough” is like arguing how many angels fit on the head of a pin.
Thank you, as always Mark, for your comment. You are correct to say we all have our own definition of enough, I’ve always been conservative in my spending and happy with what I have, and that has allowed for a comfortable retirement.
“Retirement planning isn’t just about numbers. It’s about time, time we assume we’ll have, but aren’t guaranteed.”
Absolutely!!!
Life has always and will be about time.
I sprouted something about this in college during a meeting and got so many deer in the headlight looks you’d thought I was some alien!
The one thing none of us can buy is more time. It’s relentless tick of that clock that hones most of what everyone here is doing in our planning and execution of plans. We are all trying to make sure we can enjoy the ticks…responsibly as citizens of this planet. There’s a Trek:TNG quote that’s lodged in my head for decades. Something akin to: “Space, time and thought are not the separate things they appear to be.” Peace.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. For the time being I’ll continue with life one day at a time, it’s worked well for me, so far!