Why Waiting Until 70 for Social Security May Not Be the Best Move

Key Points

• Claiming Social Security at 70 can raise your monthly benefit by 24% compared with filing at full retirement age.

• A larger monthly payment does not always translate into more money over your lifetime.

• It’s worth running the numbers before deciding to wait until 70.

I was recently speaking with a relative who is close to retirement, and when Social Security came up, he said he expects to wait until 70 to file.

The reasoning is straightforward. Filing at 70 increases your benefit by 24% versus claiming at a full retirement age of 67. If the goal is bigger monthly checks for life, plus larger cost-of-living adjustments, delaying until 70 can seem like the obvious choice.

Still, a larger monthly benefit does not automatically mean you’ll receive more Social Security overall. That difference matters before you decide to lock in a claim at 70.

Why waiting may not be the smartest strategy

One often overlooked detail is that Social Security is structured so that, for someone with an average life expectancy, the total lifetime benefit is roughly the same no matter when benefits are claimed. Waiting can increase the monthly amount, but it also means giving up payments you could have received earlier.

If you do not expect to live an average lifespan and think you may pass away relatively young, delaying until 70 may not make sense. People entering retirement with health concerns, or those with a family history of early death, may want to think twice about waiting beyond full retirement age.

In some cases, claiming before full retirement age can even be the better move. You can start as early as 62.

For example, say your full retirement age benefit is $2,000 per month. If you delay for three years and claim at 70, that benefit rises to $2,480 per month.

That approach works in your favor if you live well into your 80s. But if you die at 75, the outcome changes sharply. In that case, filing at full retirement age would produce a lifetime total of $192,000, while waiting until 70 would produce only $148,800.

Even if you live until 81, an earlier claim can still come out ahead. In this example, claiming at a full retirement age of 67 results in $336,000 in lifetime benefits, compared with $327,360 if you wait until 70.

That is why you should not assume delaying Social Security is automatically the right decision. In many cases, you need a fairly long lifespan just to break even. If you are uncomfortable taking that gamble, claiming at full retirement age or even earlier may be the better option.

Your spouse could change the equation

There is one major factor the example above does not include: whether you have a spouse who may depend on Social Security survivor benefits. If you are the higher earner in the household, waiting until 70 does more than increase your own benefit. It can also lead to a larger survivor benefit for your spouse.

If you believe you may only live into your late 70s, you might lean against delaying your claim. But if your spouse is in excellent health and comes from a family with long lifespans, postponing your claim could still be worthwhile because it leaves behind a more generous survivor benefit.

Ultimately, claiming Social Security is a personal decision, and there is no one filing age that is right for everyone. The important thing is not to assume that waiting until 70 is the best choice by default. Understand the trade-offs, consider the risks, and make sure you are comfortable with the outcome.