I retired at age 60 and I'm 64 now. My FRA is Feb 2023 and I was planning to start my SS then. I have been living off my company pension and dividends from $2M in investments without touching any of my principal. My total retirement income is a little more than my final working salary, so I didn't have to change my spending. My Father passed at 80 and Mother passed at 72. I don't need to worry about spousal benefits at this time.
My questions: Would it be better for me to delay until 70 or start at FRA? Secondly, my tax rates will increase at 72, so any larger SS payment then will be taxed at 25% while I can get 4 to 5 yrs out starting at FRA at 12% & 15% tax rates.

Hi,

When to start drawing benefits is a judgment call, and I can't make that decision for you. However, it sounds like you're in good shape financially, so if I was in your shoes I would opt to wait until age 70 to start drawing. If you were born in 1956, your Social Security retirement benefit rate would be 29.33% higher if you wait until age 70 vs. starting at full retirement age (FRA), and you may need that extra money more in the future than you do now. That's simply my opinion, though, and if you think that for tax or other reasons that you'd be better off filing sooner, you're free to do that.

You may want to strongly consider using our basic software program (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) or our MaxiFI planner (https://maxifiplanner.com/) to fully analyze the options in order to help you make your decision.

Best, Jerry