The Shocking Statistics Behind When People Collect Social Security

Choosing when to collect Social Security is one of the most stressful retirement decisions people face, and it doesn’t have to be.

In this episode, Ari breaks down how most people actually decide when to claim Social Security, why there is no single “best” age, and how to think about the decision without fear or guesswork. Using real data and real-world scenarios, the focus stays on understanding trade-offs rather than chasing a perfect answer. 

Listen as Ari explains why some people claim as early as 62, why others wait until full retirement age or later, and how factors like income needs, longevity, and spousal considerations influence the decision. It also highlights why calculators alone often miss what matters most, and why peace of mind plays a bigger role than people expect. 

This is for anyone approaching retirement who wants a clearer, calmer way to think about Social Security and make a confident decision that fits their life.

-

Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation.

The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements

Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial.

Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here

Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here

Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Most people stress like crazy when it comes to
collecting Social Securitybecause they don't want to get
it wrong.
And I don't blame them.
It's the difference ofpotentially tens, if not
hundreds, of thousands ofdollars.
So you want to get it right, butyou don't need to stress about
it when it's going to be onedecision you make in a few
minutes at some point that'sgoing to dictate how much income
comes in.
So what I recommend is justunderstanding what do most

(00:21):
people do, which is what I'mgoing to explain today.
And it doesn't mean you have tofollow that, but you might hear
something that goes, wow, thatrationale, yep, that's what I'm
thinking, and I'm going tocollect at 62, and this makes
sense to me.
And then you could be doneworrying about this.
And part of my job as I view itis to advise you on here's
something you might just notknow about asset location or
Roth conversions or healthcareplanning.

(00:42):
And here's something that you'veprobably thought about for a
very long time, or you mightknow that it's going to be
something you're going to worryabout that hopefully you no
longer worry about because itwill been explained in a way
that resonates with you.
So as a reminder, my name is AriTaubleieb.
I'm a certified financialplanner and host of the Early
Retirement Podcast.
I'm also the chief growthofficer at Root Financial.

(01:03):
So if everything today justlights you up where you're like,
oh my gosh, I love this.
Like when I'm in retirement, I'mgoing to be doing tax strategy
and healthcare, and I don't wantto travel because I'm going to
be looking up different taxlaws.
We might not be the best fit foryou.
And you probably will want tomanage on your own.
If you're like, wow, you lovethis stuff, and I think your
team loves this stuff.
Well, that's of course what wedo here.

(01:24):
So if you're listening to this,going, wow, I want some help
like this, you can go to ourwebsite, rootfinancial.com, and
talk to an advisor today.
Now, what I'm going to explainfirst are some stats.
And some of these stats mightsurprise you.
Some I think you're going to go,yep, it's kind of what I
thought, but it validates it.
But I'm going to start with mylittle Social Security story
because this is what I think alot of you will resonate with.

(01:45):
And so the story is someone whocame and said, What's the best
time to collect?
And I said, if there was a besttime to collect, it'd be very
simple.
I would just tell you it's thisage or that age, but it's not
that way.
And that's why Social Securitygets so much hype on YouTube, on
different articles, becausethere's a lot of fear that you
can drive people into thinkingabout, which gets them more
clicks and more ad dollars,which is the exact opposite

(02:07):
approach I tried to take.
I just want to give you thestraight logic, you can make a
decision and be on your way.
So with Social Security, the wayI'm going to recommend you think
about it is in this followingkind of three questions.
Question one, do you needincome?
If you're like, I want to retireand I could literally not
survive because I just don'thave enough money, there's a
reason to turn on SocialSecurity.
If that helps you live yourideal life where you have your

(02:29):
health and your energy in yourearly years, that's something to
consider.
Like, do you need income?
That's number one.
Number two, what are you goingto regret less?
I'm not saying that you'reworrying about the following,
but many of you are worryingSocial Security will go away.
Maybe not entirely, but ifyou're thinking, you know what,
I paid into this thing for 35 or40 years.
I could not live with myself ifI paid into this thing, and then

(02:52):
all of a sudden I go, I want toturn it on, and it's at 75% of
what it should be, or 50%.
I'm just going to be kickingmyself.
Now, people have been sayingthat's going to happen for a
very long time, and it has nothappened.
But you might feel a concernthere, which would be a valid
concern because there is proof,not my opinion, that more people
are collecting Social Securityversus those paying into it.

(03:14):
So if that's how you'rethinking, you might go, you know
what?
Maybe I do turn it on a littlequasi too early.
But if I'm going to sleep betterat night because I turn it on
early, knowing, hey, now I'mgoing to be collecting this
amount starting right away,you're just going to feel
better.
It's something to consider.
It's not the reason to collect,but I would consider that as
something that most people mightgo, well, just run the finances.

(03:37):
I know a lot of advisors willsay, well, just do whatever the
calculator says.
Well, you're not a calculator,so I don't recommend that.
And then number three is what'smost important to your spouse?
If you're single, you couldignore that question.
But if your spouse is someonewho you know maybe is not as
financially savvy as you, and Idon't really like using that
phrase because it's not who'smore savvy, that's not who wins.

(03:59):
But maybe you're the one, ifyou're listening to this podcast
or YouTube video, who likesfinances a little more.
And if that's you, you can behonest and let me know in the
comments.
And I think that's a cool thing,not a bad thing.
And anyway, you're the one wholikes finances like me.
But what happens generally isyou'll maybe think, maybe I
should turn on Social Securityearly, maybe I could invest it
and do even better than what youknow the government's gonna do.

(04:21):
And I'm such a brilliant, youknow, investor.
Just joking around here.
But maybe that is a part of you.
Well, another part of you mightthink, well, if I were to turn
on at 62, and God forbid I passaway due to a health event or
otherwise at 68, I would bekicking myself because that
means my spouse is only gonnaget the amount that I started
collecting for the rest of theirlife, as opposed to if I

(04:44):
delayed, they would have beenable to receive that amount for
the rest of their life.
So if they delayed until 70 andpassed at 71, well, if you start
collecting at 70, they'regetting, let's call it maybe
4,000 a month compared topotentially 1,500 a month for
the rest of their life.
So it really is a team decision.
Now, here's what the stats say.
Now, before I explain this,please tell me what your plan is

(05:06):
to collect Social Securitybecause it helps everyone make a
better decision.
You might say something in thecomments or send me an email
that I'll highlight in a futurevideo that will make someone go,
wow, that's a point I'd notconsider.
That's an angle I didn't know.
So obviously I love this stuffand I could do a 12-hour podcast
on this, which maybe I will.
But for now, I'm gonna stick itto just a few minutes so that

(05:26):
you guys can be on your waytoday.
In terms of the stats here,according to data from the
Social Security Administration,23% of men and 25% of women
begin collecting at age 62.
Now, is that what you thought?
Did you think less people?
Did you think more?
Once again, I like hearing yourfeedback.
It makes this more fun for me.
So thank you for letting meknow.

(05:47):
Now, the percentage of peopleclaiming at age 62 has been
declining dramatically over thepast two decades, dropping from
around 60% in the early 2000s toless than 30% by twenty
twenty-three, according toNorthwestern Mutual.
So for comparison, in 2014, 35%of men and nearly 40% of women
began receiving benefits at age62.

So it prompts the question (06:08):
why?
Why are more people claiminglater?
Maybe it's because we're livinglonger, maybe it's because
people are finding I'm workinglonger and I don't want to turn
on Social Security and interruptanything else going on.
There's many different argumentshere.
Now, full retirement age was themost popular claiming age for

(06:28):
both sexes, with 28% of men and26% of women beginning benefits
at this age, and that'saccording to NerdWallet.
So full retirement age is thesingle most common claiming age,
more popular than age 62 or anyother age, like 64, 68, 70.
Why do you guys think this is?
I know why this is.
This is because of a littlething called framing.

(06:52):
Full retirement age.
It sounds like, oh, that's whenI get my full benefits.
It's a framing that reallyaligns with people.
It's like, well, I didn'tcollect it as early as I can.
And yeah, I could wait till 70,but gosh, full retirement age.
And once it hits full retirementage, the reason I think this is
fascinating, because once again,I find all of this fascinating,
at full retirement age, once youdelay, you get a significant

(07:15):
bump.
8% every single year you delay.
So why is this interesting tome?
It's fascinating because therewould be a bigger argument in my
head of people to startcollecting at 68 or 69.
Why full retirement age?
If you get to full retirementage and you get a benefit of
about 5.5% growth or so everyyear that you delay from 62 to

(07:37):
63 and so on, all the way tofull retirement age.
Once you're at full retirementage, then you get an 8% bump, a
guaranteed 8%.
So if the stock markethistorically does 10% per year,
if you're just looking at the SP500, a reminder, it never has
once done 10%.
That's just the average.
Might do 20%, might do negative20%.
So the reason I find thisinteresting is you could

(07:59):
guarantee an 8% benefit.
And I know there's a lot ofpeople that will delay, but the
fact that the most commonclaiming age is full retirement
age because it just works withpeople based off breakeven
analysis, how long they thinkthey're gonna live, that's
interesting to me.
Um, in 2022, 8.5% of men and9.5% of women began between uh

(08:20):
starting at age 70 to maximizebenefits.
Now, recent data shows that lessthan 10% of newly awarded
retired workers delayed SocialSecurity until age 70.
So the trend here, which isinteresting, is the age that
people are collecting is gettingdelayed more and more.
And even with COVID, so the mostpopular claiming age at roughly

(08:42):
28% for both sexes, for time andage, between 66 and 67, which is
followed by age 62, about 23 to25%, with only about 8 to 9%
waiting until age 70 to maximizebenefits.
Now, I've said in many othervideos when it comes to Social
Security, here's how you shouldconsider collecting.
And I've given many examples.

(09:03):
Hey, if you have a milliondollars and you paid into Social
Security for 35 highest years,and you're probably gonna live
till 85 or 90 because you'rehealthy.
This is what the math says foryour situation.
But what that does not take intoconsideration, which you should
do the analysis on using thetool that I constantly talk
about, which is in mydescription below, is what if
there's a significant age gap?

(09:23):
What if it turns out there'srental income or a pension or
inheritance or you're gonna worklonger or your spouse is gonna
do part-time income?
All of those little factorsdrastically change how you
should collect Social Security.
So hopefully these stats wereinteresting.
I'm curious what you found mostfascinating.
Let me know.
And as always, appreciate youguys tuning in.
If you want help in a customfinancial plan, you can go to

(09:44):
our website, rootfinancial.com.
In the upper right, a littlebutton that says see if you're a
fit.
Click on that, answer a fewquestions, and we might be
talking very soon.
Thanks, guys.
Thank you all, as always, forlistening to the early
retirement podcast.
I love getting to host theseshows and make different content
for you guys every single week.
I've not missed a single week inyears, and that is because I

(10:06):
love getting to do this.
Now, please be smart about thisbefore you actually execute any
strategy that you see me talkabout or hear me talk about,
should I say, please talk toyour financial advisor, your tax
preparer, your estate attorney.
Please be smart about this.
None of this should be construedas financial advice.
This is for fun, educational,informational purposes only.

(10:27):
Once again, just quickdisclaimer here, guys.
Please be smart about this.
Appreciate you listening asalways.
And you can, of course, submit aquestion on my website, early
retirementpodcast.com.
If you, of course, want me toaddress a specific case study or
topic.
I will not promise I can get toit, but I respond to every
single person.
And if I find it will be helpfulfor a lot of people, I will

(10:49):
absolutely make an episode onit.
At the very least, give you someinsight.
That's it.
Thanks, guys.