Comment by reducesuffering
9 hours ago
> defer his Social Security payments until 70, in order to get the higher benefit
People repeat this but when I ran the math on earlier Social Security payments it seems like the accrued $, by the time you're eligible for the higher benefit, is plenty similar as bonus income.
It also helps to spread your lifetime Soc Sec benefits over more tax years, thereby lowering the total tax you pay (because pushing higher payouts into fewer tax years by delayed filing will typically increase your marginal tax bracket).
Yeah it's definitely not one-size-fits-all advice. Depending on what your IRA/401k situation looks like, taking SS right at 62 may be the financially superior choice as it reduces your early draw down on the investments.
I'm not following this advice for now but a recent post about not delaying
https://nesteggcare.com/why-would-you-delay-the-start-of-soc...