My wife and I are avid travelers. In fact, we just return (today) from a 14-day cruise (Boston to Quebec and return to Boston). This wasn’t planned but our travel agent told me there was a last minute “sale” (almost 70% off) that I couldn’t pass up. This two-week cruise cost the same as the airfare for one person for our trip to S. America earlier this year. We always wanted to cruise down the St Lawrence River. Since we had been to all the other ports on this cruise except for Quebec, we didn’t spend much on excursions since we were happy to just get off the ship and walk around. It was our first time in Quebec though and we did a nice excursion there. About a month earlier, we had returned from a month-long trip to S. America (a cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago, around Cape Horn). It was supposed to be four weeks in duration (including pre and post cruise options) but due to bad weather on our return and a mishmash of errors by the airline, we got delayed in Miami for six additional days. Instead of fuming about it, we decided to rent a car and spend the next five days at Disney World (without the grandkids). We made good use of our Lightning Passes (twice). Believe it or not, we still enjoy a good rollercoaster ride (and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind was an interesting ride where each car can spin 360 degrees while traveling on the rails). This will be the first summer we plan to stay at home, though. We have big plans for June (wife’s birthday) and the 4th of July (where we do plenty of fireworks). I’ll be able to tend to our gardens for the first time in years, too (a task I've had to hire out since we haven't always been around). We have a 1.5-acre Japanese garden (with a 5,000 koi pond) and a vegetable garden as well. In October, we head out to Hawaii for a week (visiting our friends) and then on to Japan for a two-week cruise around the island (plus Busan, S. Korea). This is their iconic fall foliage cruise. My daughter will be accompanying us – her first visit there. She had just returned from an African safari trip to the Serengeti. For the past several years, I try to arrange one trip with one adult child (and family) to take them somewhere that is mutually agreeable. Last year, my son (and his family) wanted to go to Disney World during spring break and this year my daughter wanted to visit Japan. With my frugality period over, we travel first class, too. It makes “getting there” more pleasant. Last year, we had about 12 weeks of traveling as well. We are 76/78 and still going strong.
I also managed to wait to age 70. I did go through a year-by-year assessment as to whether I “needed” to claim each year (starting at age 63, when I retired). While not planned, I had some part-time work that provided additional income until age 68 so that help us as well. Waiting also allowed us to increase our Roth conversion amounts over a six-year period (due to less overall income). That opportunity allowed us to convert 40% of our portfolio to Roth. That reduction of our T-IRA reduced our RMD proportionally, which further reduced the taxable portion of our SS benefit from 85% to 73%. We have the potential to reduce it down to 60% by using the revised method of RMD calculation allowed by Secure Act 2.0 (since we also annuitized part of our T-IRA). It is difficult to total up the financial benefit of waiting if you also factor these situations. Awhile back in response to a question regarding investing SS benefits claimed at FRA (vs waiting to age 70), I did a “what if” analysis. This analysis compared collecting SS at FRA (age 66 in this case) and investing such assets for four years (assuming 5% rate of return) against having an extra 32% at age 70. If I use $30K as the benefit at FRA, the investment path computes to $135,769. By waiting four additional years, you get $9,600 extra. In essence, this is comparable to getting $9,600 “annuity income” or equivalent to a 7.1% lifetime payout, with inflation-protected COLA. If you use a guaranteed investment rate of return of 6% (instead of 5%), the payout rate reduces to 6.9% (still not too bad for an inflation-protected benefit). If you are married, as the higher income earner, you can also consider this income “addition” to be a joint-survivor benefit. If you had the option of “investing” $135,769 with a guaranteed return of 7.1% and have that principal “grow” at the rate of inflation (CPI-W), would you take that deal? To illustrate that last statement, let’s assume that the CPI-W was 3%. That $9,600 would increase to $9,888 after one year. At a 7.1% payout, the effective principal to generate that benefit would be $139,842 (a 3% “growth” of the initial principal). While there is no such principal, this is another way to look at comparing claiming early or waiting from a financial viewpoint.
Comments
My wife and I are avid travelers. In fact, we just return (today) from a 14-day cruise (Boston to Quebec and return to Boston). This wasn’t planned but our travel agent told me there was a last minute “sale” (almost 70% off) that I couldn’t pass up. This two-week cruise cost the same as the airfare for one person for our trip to S. America earlier this year. We always wanted to cruise down the St Lawrence River. Since we had been to all the other ports on this cruise except for Quebec, we didn’t spend much on excursions since we were happy to just get off the ship and walk around. It was our first time in Quebec though and we did a nice excursion there. About a month earlier, we had returned from a month-long trip to S. America (a cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago, around Cape Horn). It was supposed to be four weeks in duration (including pre and post cruise options) but due to bad weather on our return and a mishmash of errors by the airline, we got delayed in Miami for six additional days. Instead of fuming about it, we decided to rent a car and spend the next five days at Disney World (without the grandkids). We made good use of our Lightning Passes (twice). Believe it or not, we still enjoy a good rollercoaster ride (and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind was an interesting ride where each car can spin 360 degrees while traveling on the rails). This will be the first summer we plan to stay at home, though. We have big plans for June (wife’s birthday) and the 4th of July (where we do plenty of fireworks). I’ll be able to tend to our gardens for the first time in years, too (a task I've had to hire out since we haven't always been around). We have a 1.5-acre Japanese garden (with a 5,000 koi pond) and a vegetable garden as well. In October, we head out to Hawaii for a week (visiting our friends) and then on to Japan for a two-week cruise around the island (plus Busan, S. Korea). This is their iconic fall foliage cruise. My daughter will be accompanying us – her first visit there. She had just returned from an African safari trip to the Serengeti. For the past several years, I try to arrange one trip with one adult child (and family) to take them somewhere that is mutually agreeable. Last year, my son (and his family) wanted to go to Disney World during spring break and this year my daughter wanted to visit Japan. With my frugality period over, we travel first class, too. It makes “getting there” more pleasant. Last year, we had about 12 weeks of traveling as well. We are 76/78 and still going strong.
Post: Lifetime Supply
Link to comment from May 23, 2026
I also managed to wait to age 70. I did go through a year-by-year assessment as to whether I “needed” to claim each year (starting at age 63, when I retired). While not planned, I had some part-time work that provided additional income until age 68 so that help us as well. Waiting also allowed us to increase our Roth conversion amounts over a six-year period (due to less overall income). That opportunity allowed us to convert 40% of our portfolio to Roth. That reduction of our T-IRA reduced our RMD proportionally, which further reduced the taxable portion of our SS benefit from 85% to 73%. We have the potential to reduce it down to 60% by using the revised method of RMD calculation allowed by Secure Act 2.0 (since we also annuitized part of our T-IRA). It is difficult to total up the financial benefit of waiting if you also factor these situations. Awhile back in response to a question regarding investing SS benefits claimed at FRA (vs waiting to age 70), I did a “what if” analysis. This analysis compared collecting SS at FRA (age 66 in this case) and investing such assets for four years (assuming 5% rate of return) against having an extra 32% at age 70. If I use $30K as the benefit at FRA, the investment path computes to $135,769. By waiting four additional years, you get $9,600 extra. In essence, this is comparable to getting $9,600 “annuity income” or equivalent to a 7.1% lifetime payout, with inflation-protected COLA. If you use a guaranteed investment rate of return of 6% (instead of 5%), the payout rate reduces to 6.9% (still not too bad for an inflation-protected benefit). If you are married, as the higher income earner, you can also consider this income “addition” to be a joint-survivor benefit. If you had the option of “investing” $135,769 with a guaranteed return of 7.1% and have that principal “grow” at the rate of inflation (CPI-W), would you take that deal? To illustrate that last statement, let’s assume that the CPI-W was 3%. That $9,600 would increase to $9,888 after one year. At a 7.1% payout, the effective principal to generate that benefit would be $139,842 (a 3% “growth” of the initial principal). While there is no such principal, this is another way to look at comparing claiming early or waiting from a financial viewpoint.
Post: Rethinking the “Right” Time for Social Security
Link to comment from April 25, 2026