Hi Larry. I am currently 68.5, financially comfortable, single, and without a significant longevity gene. I have been planning to take Social Security at age 70. However, there’s quite a bit of chatter online about increasing the retirement age which would could reduce the payout at 70. Should I take Social Security earlier, perhaps at 69? Or is it likely safe to wait until 70? Thanks a bunch.

Hi,

If Congress raises the full retirement age (FRA) for Social Security benefits, it won't affect you. Your FRA was age 66, and that wouldn't change even if Congress decides to raise FRAs in the future.

I can't advise you when to start drawing your benefits, but I can assure you that if you wait until age 70 to start drawing your Social Security retirement benefits your retirement benefit will be 32% higher than your primary insurance amount (PIA). Your PIA is the amount you'd have received if you had started drawing at your FRA. The 32% increase at age 70 would be due to delayed retirement credits (DRC), which add 2/3rds of 1% to a person's Social Security retirement benefit rate for each month that they don't collect benefits from FRA until age 70.

If you start drawing your benefits prior to age 70 you won't receive as many DRCs, meaning that your monthly benefit rate will be lower than it would have been if you'd waited until age 70. You may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze your options so that you can choose the filing strategy that you believe would be the most likely to maximize your benefits.

Best, Jerry