I’m Retired in L.A. – and Regret Claiming Social Security at 70. Here’s What Went Wrong

Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/im-retired-in-l-a-and-regret-claiming-social-security-at-70-heres-what-went-wrong/

You’ve probably heard it a thousand times. Wait until seventy to claim your Social Security benefits. That’s the magic number, right? The age where your check maxes out, where patience supposedly pays off big time. Financial experts hammer this advice home like a broken record.

Here’s the thing though. Sometimes conventional wisdom doesn’t account for real life. Living in Los Angeles as a retiree who followed that advice to the letter, I’m here to tell you that waiting until seventy wasn’t the slam dunk I thought it would be. There are hidden costs nobody talks about, trade-offs that only become clear when you’re living them. Let’s dive into what actually went wrong.

The Years I’ll Never Get Back

The Years I'll Never Get Back (Image Credits: Pixabay)
The Years I’ll Never Get Back (Image Credits: Pixabay)

Think about your early sixties. For most people, that’s when you’re still healthy enough to actually enjoy retirement. Travel plans and bucket-list dreams often get postponed during those years when people delay benefits, thinking they’ll have more money and time later. I did exactly that. My wife and I put off the trips we’d been dreaming about for decades.

We figured the bigger monthly check would be worth the wait. What I didn’t factor in was that by the time I hit seventy, my knees weren’t what they used to be. Income in your sixties can be a lot more useful than in your eighties when your health and mobility might be restricted, and the average healthy life expectancy in the U.S. is…

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Author : Matthias Binder

Publish date : 2025-12-20 08:58:00

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