I’m Retired – and Claiming Social Security at 70 Is a Decision I Now Regret

You spend years hearing the same advice from financial experts. Wait until seventy to claim Social Security. Maximize those delayed retirement credits. Lock in that guaranteed bump in monthly benefits. It sounds like foolproof logic, doesn’t it? You get an extra 2/3 of 1% for each month you delay after your birthday month, adding up to 8% for each full year you wait until age 70. The numbers seem to speak for themselves.

I followed that conventional wisdom to the letter. Now, looking back, I’m questioning whether I made the right call.

The Healthcare Coverage Gap Nobody Talks About

Here’s the thing nobody really emphasizes when they’re telling you to delay claiming Social Security. Medicare for all but those with disabling chronic conditions begins at 65, and doesn’t start for most people until age 65 unless they have a disabling condition. When I retired at sixty-two, I faced a brutal three-year gap before Medicare kicked in. The premiums for Bronze and Silver marketplace plans for a 64-year-old can exceed four times the cost of most Medicare coverage at age 65.

Those years burned through my retirement savings faster than I ever anticipated. COBRA coverage would have cost me the full premium plus a two percent administrative fee. The marketplace plans weren’t much better, honestly. I watched my carefully built nest egg shrink month after month just to keep myself insured.

It’s hard to say for sure, but the amount I spent on healthcare between sixty-two and sixty-five might have negated much of the benefit I gained by waiting until seventy to claim. The math everyone shows you never accounts for this reality.

When Life Expectancy Becomes More Than Just a Number

Financial planners love to talk about breakeven ages, but they rarely discuss what happens when you don’t reach them. If you live at least to age 78 years 8 months you will receive maximum benefits by waiting until age 67 to begin collecting Social Security, and if you live at least to age 82 years 6 months you will receive maximum benefits by waiting until age 70. That’s roughly thirteen years of collecting higher benefits just to break even with someone who claimed at sixty-two.

Let’s be real. According to the SSA, the average life expectancy for a 65-year-old is around 84 years for males and 87 for females. Sure, those are averages. However, plenty of people don’t reach those numbers, especially if you’ve dealt with health issues or have family history working against you.

I’m seventy-three now. Three years into collecting my maximized benefit. I’ve received larger checks than I would have gotten at sixty-two, no question. Still, someone who claimed eight years earlier than me has already pocketed nearly a hundred monthly payments I never saw. The calculations everybody throws around assume you’re going to live well into your eighties. What if you don’t?

The Hidden Cost of Missing Out on Early Retirement Years

There’s something the spreadsheets can’t capture. Those years between sixty-two and seventy are different from your late seventies. Your energy levels are higher. You can travel more easily. You’re more likely to enjoy activities that become difficult or impossible as you age further.

I waited, working part-time jobs to bridge the gap until I could claim at seventy. Meanwhile, friends who retired and claimed at sixty-two spent those years traveling, pursuing hobbies, spending time with grandchildren. In December 2022, 64 percent of all retired workers who were receiving Social Security benefits had chosen to begin receiving benefits before their full retirement age, with 27 percent choosing age 62, and only 10 percent waiting until 70 years old.

Now some of those friends are dealing with mobility issues or health problems that limit what they can do. They got to enjoy their early retirement years with that Social Security income, even if it was reduced. I optimized for maximum dollars per month but gave up eight years of freedom in the process. You can’t get that time back, no matter how big your monthly check becomes.

The Inflation and Purchasing Power Puzzle

Everyone emphasizes that waiting gives you a permanently higher benefit that adjusts for inflation through cost-of-living adjustments. That sounds great in theory. In practice, though, the COLA increases haven’t always kept pace with actual expenses retirees face. In 2024, the COLA was 3.2%, and that dropped to 2.5% in 2025.

Housing costs, prescription medications, property taxes, insurance premiums. They’ve all climbed faster than Social Security adjustments in recent years. My higher monthly benefit helps, sure. Yet I can’t help but wonder if having that money eight years earlier, when inflation was lower and my expenses were different, might have been more valuable overall.

There’s also the question of opportunity cost. Someone who claimed at sixty-two could have invested those early payments during the market recovery years. They could have paid off their mortgage early, reducing their fixed expenses. They had flexibility I didn’t have because I was focused on maximizing that future monthly payment. Sometimes having money now is worth more than having more money later.

Rethinking the Conventional Wisdom

Looking back, I realize the advice to wait until seventy works beautifully for people in specific situations. If you’re still working and earning good money, delaying makes perfect sense. If you have excellent health and family longevity on your side, the math probably works out. If you have substantial retirement savings that can comfortably cover all your expenses without Social Security, waiting is easier.

I didn’t fit all those categories as neatly as I thought I did. The Social Security Administration’s 2023 actuarial life table based on 2020 data gives a life expectancy of 81 years for a 62-year-old male and 84 years for a 62-year-old female, and the advice that people who expect to live long lives should delay the start of benefits is sensible but hardly justifies the advice that the vast majority of American workers should delay taking their retirement benefits until 70.

The strategy that maximizes lifetime benefits on paper doesn’t always maximize quality of life or financial flexibility when you need it most. I wish I’d given more weight to my personal circumstances rather than following the textbook answer. Every situation is different. What works statistically for most people might not work practically for you.

Did waiting until seventy turn out to be a financial mistake for me? I honestly can’t say for certain yet. Ask me again in ten years if I’m still around and healthy. What I can say is that the decision cost me more than I expected in ways the retirement calculators never captured. That’s worth thinking about if you’re facing this choice yourself. What would you have done differently?