I Was Once Convinced I'd Claim Social Security at 70. Now I'm Not So Sure.

Key Points

• Delaying Social Security beyond full retirement age results in permanently boosted benefits.

• Age 70 is when the financial incentive to delay your claim runs out.

• I used to think filing for benefits at 70 made perfect sense, but I've since had a change of heart.

• The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook ›

For some reason, before I started really educating myself about Social Security, I was under the impression that all seniors were eligible for benefits at 65. Maybe I thought that because 65 is when Medicare eligibility begins. But it wasn't until I started to really read up on Social Security that I learned how filers get choices for claiming benefits.

The earliest age to sign up for Social Security is 62. However, you don't get your complete monthly benefit without a reduction unless you wait for full retirement age to arrive. That age is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later.

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There's also a huge incentive to delay Social Security past full retirement age. For each year you do, your benefits get a permanent 8% boost.

Unfortunately, you can only enjoy that increase for so long. Once you turn 70, there's no financial reward for delaying your claim, so you might as well file for Social Security at that point.

Since claiming Social Security at 70 gives me an opportunity to score much larger monthly benefits, I used to be convinced that was the best time to sign up. But I've since had a change of heart for one big reason.

I don't want to take the risk

You might think that claiming Social Security ahead of full retirement age is a risky thing to do since it results in reduced benefits. But I happen to think that claiming benefits at 70 is just as risky, if not more so.

The reason? If you delay your claim that long, you're banking on living a pretty long life to come out ahead financially. But that's unfortunately not guaranteed to happen.

Remember, the larger monthly payments you get by claiming Social Security at 70 are offset by having to wait several more years to get your money. You need to live a decent lifespan for that to make sense financially.

Put another way, filing for Social Security at 70 won't necessarily result in more lifetime income, despite leading to larger monthly benefits. It could result in your largest total payday. But without a crystal ball telling you how long you'll live, there's no way to know. So I'd rather not take the chance.

I'd also like to enjoy my money sooner

Another reason I'm no longer convinced that age 70 is optimal for claiming Social Security? I figure I may want to enjoy those benefits at a younger age.

It's one thing to delay Social Security because you need every last dollar to pay your retirement expenses. And people who reach their senior years with no savings inevitably wind up in that boat.

But I've been saving aggressively for retirement. And my hope is that the money Social Security pays me can be used for extras -- not essentials. Because of that, I think I'd rather get that money sooner rather than later.

Consider your options carefully

All told, there's no right or wrong answer when it comes to figuring out when to claim Social Security. The point here isn't to convince anyone not to sign up at 70. Rather, the point is that sometimes, it pays to rethink your own assumptions and be open to different strategies.

For years, I thought that filing for Social Security at 70 make the most sense -- period. It was only more recently that I started to see the merit in claiming benefits sooner.

And to be clear, I still haven't made a final decision on when to take benefits. But I'm open to different opinions.

If you're not sure what to do yourself, consider the pros and cons of filing for benefits at different ages and relate them to your personal situation. With any luck, you'll come to a decision that works well for you -- whether it has you claiming Social Security early, on time, or late.

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