Research shows that people who have average health and moderate levels of wealth will be better off deferring their Social Security benefits until age 70, when they can. However, approximately 90% of those who are eligible to get those benefits, claim them before the full benefit age of 67. 

Of course there are many different reasons why you might choose to take Social Security early, including limited financial resources, considerations having to do with a spouse, poor health or even concern about the possibility of Social Security’s general survival. However, many people are not fully optimizing this decision and setting themselves up for success with their financial future in retirement. Academic research suggests that psychology could be behind why so many people are electing their Social Security benefits early.

This involves the human preference to take an immediate reward over a future one. Deciding what other aspects you could use or tap into as you get older could be an important component of deciding when it makes sense to take Social Security. Sitting down and calculating out the various resources to pull from in your older years could help you make an informed decision about what is truly best for you.