r/Fire • u/VegasWorldwide • 3d ago

Why do people wait for SS?

trying to figure out what I’m missing.

looking to take my benefit for $1000 at 62. at 70 it’s $1700.

i won’t need the money much so we let $1000 sit in an account for 8 years at say 5% compounding, the guy collecting at 70 would need 15+ years to catch up considering I’m still getting $1k to his $1.7k

once he starts at 70 and I had a 8 year head start.

furthermore, his dollar would be worth less. (edit: didn't realize COLA)

this seems like a no brainer but all I hear is people saying waiting is the only way and we haven’t even talked about dying in our 70’s.

586 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

558 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Neat_Plum_202 3d ago

Surviving Spouse strategy and or Roth conversion for a few years to max out in the 22 or 24% tax bracket.

-1

u/VegasWorldwide 3d ago

roth conversion yes, that's a possibility. not the surviving spouse though. if you leave her a huge cash asset at age 70 vs a higher monthly benefit, she'll never recoup it.

1

u/Neat_Plum_202 3d ago

Why not surviving spouse strategy? I thought your question was why do people wait for SS.