Overview
- The author says she reversed a prior plan to wait until age 70 and now intends to claim Social Security at full retirement age and invest the monthly checks.
- Her husband’s decision to consider retirement and his proximity to full retirement age prompted a joint reassessment of cash flow and claiming timing.
- Budget modeling showed their savings could last more than 30 years using a 4% initial withdrawal rate with modest annual increases, reducing the need to delay Social Security for income.
- Health costs are the couple’s top retirement worry so they opened a dedicated long-term-care savings account and the author expects to keep working for the foreseeable future.
- The choice reflects broader expert guidance to tailor claim timing to household savings, longevity risk, and Social Security rules and to verify one’s SSA earnings record before filing.