4 Great Tips When Planning to Take Social Security at Age 70

When thinking about claiming Social Security at 80, remember the goal is not to maximize a Social Security check in isolation.

Brian O'Connell

Published: 7/27/2026, 4:27:59 PM EDT

4 Great Tips When Planning to Take Social Security at Age 70 — Retirees can lower future tax bills with Roth conversions and tax-free income strategies. (Jelena Stojancevic/Shutterstock)

Taking Social Security at age 70, the last year you’re allowed to dip into SSA funds, is a tempting proposition.

If you have decent income and expect to live long, the monthly income makes sense. By and large, the longer you wait to take Social Security after your Full Retirement Age (usually around age 67), you earn 8 percent more in Social Security credits annually.

That cash can add up. According to the Social Security Administration, if you earned the taxable maximum in your career annually, starting at age 22 and starting to take funds in 2026, here’s how it breaks down:

Retiring at full retirement age in 2026, would yield $4,152.
Retiring at age 62 in 2026, would yield $2,969.
Retiring at age 70 in 2026, would yield $5,181.

These Strategies Should Optimize Taking Social Security at Age 70

If you decide to wait so you can take the maximum per-month benefits from Uncle Sam, financial experts advise planning well ahead of your 70th birthday and accounting for several key payout factors before you apply. Take these tips to the table when you’re doing your Social Security due diligence.

Plan extra carefully

When deciding whether to wait until age 70 to claim Social Security, recipients should figure out if waiting to age 70 is realistic.

“A large monthly payment always seems like a better benefit and can be a great strategy for many people,” Ashley Morgan, owner at Northern Virginia-based Ashley F Morgan Law, PC, told NTD News.

A solid budget enables you to prepare for claiming Social Security at 70 by creating a strong financial base. “Your budget should guide you in reducing expenses, funding your savings and paying debt as much as possible,” Morgan noted.

Paying down high-interest debt, building a reasonable emergency fund, and understanding your monthly expenses can make retirement much less stressful. “Too many people know what their Social Security benefit will be, but they have never sat down and figured out what they expect to spend every month,” Morgan said.

Start living on your investment income while you wait

Social Security claimants who have ample cash saved up via investment portfolios are good candidates for waiting to 70 to collect funds. If, that is, they can manage their investment cash within their household expense budgets.

“Americans considering Social Security funds at 70 need to prepare their investment portfolio to provide income in the meantime,” Noah Lewis, associate financial adviser at Scholar Advising, told NTD.

Lewis said he’d challenge the "take cash at 70" cohort to begin thinking about how to distribute from that portfolio and treat it as a source of income, along with any working income. “That might look like making distributions and accumulating some cash to provide for a period of retirement spending,” he noted. “That’s so you begin transferring yourself into creating income off the portfolio, not just relying on a job or Social Security, but knowing how to use your portfolio to create income and refining that process."

Factor in the break-even point

One legitimate concern when taking Social Security at 70 is longevity, because there ultimately is a break-even point.

For example, if you assume a client lives to 95 and run the calculation, delaying until 70 and increasing that benefit by 8 percent a year tends to make sense. “But mathematically there's a break-even point, because if you pull at 67 you still get a couple years of additional benefits you'd miss out on by delaying, so the break-even for a client could be something like age 80,” Lewis said.

The risk you're taking by waiting to take Social Security is basically a bet that you'll live past a certain age. “If you were to pass at 75, for instance, it probably would have been worth taking Social Security sooner,” Lewis added.

Match up Social Security and Medicare

When planning to wait to claim Social Security until age 70, also make sure to coordinate the decision with taxes and Medicare. “The years between retirement and the start of Social Security may provide opportunities for strategic retirement-account withdrawals or Roth conversions,” Dean Ferraro, CEO and chief compliance officer at Longhouse Wealth Management, told NTD. “However, those decisions must be modeled carefully because other income can cause a portion of Social Security benefits to become taxable.”

Claimants should also remember that delaying Social Security does not necessarily mean delaying Medicare. “Medicare enrollment generally begins around age 65 unless the person qualifies for a special enrollment period through active employer coverage,” Ferraro noted.

Don’t Treat Age 70 As a Trophy

When thinking about claiming Social Security at 80, remember the goal is not to maximize a Social Security check in isolation.

“The goal is to create the strongest after-tax income plan that can support the household for as long as either spouse may live,” Ferraro said.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the interviewees. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. NTD does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. NTD holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.