You can sign up for Social Security beginning at 62. But waiting until 70 to claim your due will produce bigger payouts if you're in good health and expect to live a long time. Your Social Security benefit increases by 7 percent until your full retirement age and by 8 percent afterwards, says Laurence Kotlikoff, a Boston University economics professor and coauthor of Spend 'Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard—Today and When You Retire. That's a far better return than most people are getting in the stock market right now. "You can potentially spend more now because you will have this higher income coming in when you are older," Kotlikoff says.
More New Year's resolutions for retirement:
Reader Comments Read all comments (1)
anita waldo of NH 12:53PM March 07, 2009