If the government offered you a guaranteed 6-to-8% investment, would you take it?

What if you could boost the value of your first Social Security check? Would you do what it takes?

Well, if you are 62 or younger, you can do it. All it takes is patience and the ability (and will) to wait until age 70 to apply for benefits.

If you are older, like me, you may want to kick yourself. Or take a nap. Or read on and pass this information along to the younger folk in your office or family.

The process is simple. If you can, go eight years after you are first eligible to apply for the lifetime, inflation-proof benefit currently going to 69 million Americans — including federal and postal worker retirees who are under the new (since the mid-1980s) Federal Employee Retirement System.

Many people are aware of the SS enhancer option. But lots don’t understand how it works. Others don’t like it because it means that if they die before becoming eligible for the bigger check, they will have “lost” money. The fact that they will also be dead doesn’t enter into their equation.

Deciding when to start collecting Social Security isn’t an issue for people who genuinely need the payment-for-life sooner-rather-than-later. It would be nice to get more. But waiting two, four, six or eight years to collect it isn’t a realistic option.

The take-now-or-wait option is one of the many things benefits expert Tammy Flanagan talks about with her clients, active and retired. And she discussed it at length on last week’s Your Turn radio show. You can listen to that by clicking here. 

For many it is not an option. But for lots of people, it is an eye-popping option that would boost their lifetime Social Security payments by tens of thousands of dollars. 

So how does it work? Check out these examples of someone with a starting Social Security benefit at age 62 of $1,500. If that person waited until age 66 to collect, the monthly benefit would jump to $2,000. If that same individual waited 8 years to collect, at age 70 they would start out with a monthly benefit of $2,640 per month — a whooping 76% difference.

 So is it worth it to you? Can you afford to wait to apply? More importantly, can you afford not to wait?

 Your call. Your choice. You know best what would work for you.

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Alazar Moges

In 1970, the International Olympic Committee awarded the Winter Games to the city of Denver to take place in 1976. But the games never took place. Due to a combination of poor planning from the Denver Olympic Organizing Committee and concerns from citizens and lawmakers over environmental and financial issues, Colorado voters ultimately refused to publicly fund the games. It is the only city to ever actually be awarded their bid by the committee but ultimately reject it.

Source: Sports Illustrated

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