When making a choice regarding your social security benefits remember that this decision will last you a lifetime.  So please explore all the benefits or drawbacks before you solidify your choices.

Under current law, the full Social Security retirement age for baby boomers is 66 to age 67. Starting these payments at this time may not be the best choice for maximizing the overall value of your benefits.

Social Security benefits are much higher if you delay payments until age 70. If you postpone payments, your monthly checks may increase by 7 to 8% per year. This offers substantial advantage and may allow for higher total benefits over the long run. You can compare waiting for Social Security benefits with comparable very low risk investments. You may find waiting to be an excellent investment strategy.

Married couples are offered more choices for claiming. And have an opportunity to take advantage of special strategies put in place for their benefit. Such as being able to receive both a primary benefit and a spousal benefit which can be as much as 50% of the primary benefit.

Married couples must consider the long-term effects of the interaction between personal retirement benefits, spousal benefits and survivor benefits in order to maximize their Social Security retirement benefits.

The good news is Social Security is inflation adjusted so your future benefits will have the same purchasing power tomorrow as they have today. You can get more information at the Social Security website: https://www.ssa.gov/retire2/.

This information is only a few of the main features of Social Security that add complexity to your decision. Please seek out expert advice to help make the right choice for your individual needs.

Answers from AZ