If you can, wait. That’s the advice from today’s to tomorrow’s retirees. In a new survey commissioned with Age Friendly Ventures, the MassMutual Social Security Pulse Check accessed people in their 70s who are “paying it forward” by advising the next generation to defer claiming social security benefits in order to maximize monthly payments.
In the survey, 30% of respondents filed at age 62 or younger. However, 38% wish they had filed later. 53% filed out out of financial necessity, such as not saving enough, and another 30% filed as the result of unforeseen issues such as health issues or employment changes.
Interestingly, 79% of survey respondents felt that they had the appropriate amount of information about when to file for Social Security retirement benefits, and 58% didn’t get help or advice. Yet in the simplest and most conservative cumulative calculation, a married couple with longevity into their early 90s could be leaving more than a half million dollars on the table—or as much as $2–4,000 per month for life—by filing for Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 versus filing at age 70.
You can learn more about the survey and Age Friendly Ventures here.