3 Undeniable Reasons to Take Social Security at Age 70 – Even if You Need the Money Sooner

Social Security benefits become available at 62, but claiming before 70 could be one of the costlier financial decisions you make in retirement.

If you need the money from Social Security to retire, holding off for an extra eight years may feel unrealistic. The math behind waiting, though, is difficult to argue with. Three specific reasons make a compelling case for delaying your claim to 70, and each one is worth understanding before you make a permanent decision.

Here are those three reasons, along with why acting on them can pay off far more than most people expect.

1. Delaying gives you a guaranteed 8% ROI

Few investments anywhere offer a risk-free, guaranteed 8% annual return, yet that is precisely what Social Security’s delayed retirement credits provide. Once you reach your full retirement age, your benefit grows by two-thirds of 1% for every month you wait to claim, all the way up to age 70. That works out to exactly 8% per year, and the credit is locked in permanently once you claim.

The cumulative effect is substantial. A retiree with a full retirement age of 67 who waits until 70 receives a 24% larger monthly check for life. On a projected $2,000 monthly benefit at 67, that bump brings the payment to $2,480, adding $5,760 per year in guaranteed income. To generate that same $5,760 from a 401(k) at a standard 4% withdrawal rate, you would need roughly $144,000 more in savings.

The compounding benefit does not stop there. Because Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are calculated as a percentage of your current benefit, a larger base payment means every annual raise is bigger too. Your decision to delay keeps rewarding you each time Social Security issues a COLA increase.

2. A higher Social Security benefit provides crucial financial security as you age

Social Security is one of the only income sources in retirement that cannot run out. It does not matter whether you live to 85 or 105: your benefit keeps arriving every month, indexed for inflation along the way. That guarantee becomes more valuable the longer you live, precisely because it arrives when your personal savings are most likely to be running low.

Late retirement is also when managing a portfolio becomes most burdensome. Tracking safe withdrawal rates, watching for sequence-of-returns risk, and navigating potential market downturns in your 80s and 90s takes energy and attention that many people simply do not want to spend. A larger Social Security check reduces how much you depend on your investment accounts to cover the basics, which means less exposure to those risks and more peace of mind in the years when you need it most.

The practical point is this: growing your guaranteed income as much as possible before you retire gives you a more stable financial floor, regardless of what markets or unexpected expenses throw at you later.

3. A bigger Social Security benefit provides protection against poor stock market returns

A larger Social Security check also functions as a hedge against disappointing investment returns, and that protection is increasingly worth having.

The 4% rule for portfolio withdrawals was built on historical market performance that many analysts believe is unlikely to repeat. If your portfolio earns less than you planned during retirement, guaranteed Social Security income fills part of that gap automatically. More guaranteed income means less pressure on a portfolio that may be underperforming.

The research here is striking. The National Bureau of Economic Research found that more than 90% of workers age 45 to 62 should wait until 70 to optimize their Social Security, and doing so would deliver a 10.4% increase in lifetime spending for a typical household. The median household that claims before the optimal age loses roughly $182,370 in lifetime discretionary spending as a result.

There is also a broader context worth noting. The 2026 Social Security Trustees Report, released in June 2026, projects that the OASI retirement trust fund could be depleted as early as late 2032. If that happens without congressional action, the Social Security Administration would be able to pay only 78% of scheduled benefits. That is not a reason to rush and claim early. Having the largest possible monthly benefit locked in before any future adjustments take effect is, if anything, a reason to delay. A 78% share of a maximized $2,480 benefit beats the same share of a smaller $2,000 one.

Waiting until 70 to claim Social Security may require sacrifice in the near term. For the large majority of retirees, though, that sacrifice translates into a more secure, more financially flexible later life, which is usually when financial security matters most.

Editor’s note: This update adds the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report projection that the OASI retirement trust fund could be depleted by late 2032, at which point 78% of scheduled benefits would be payable, and includes the National Bureau of Economic Research finding that the median household claiming before the optimal age loses roughly $182,370 in lifetime discretionary spending.

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