91% of Retirees Fail to Make the “Strongest Move” for Social Security Benefits

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Social Security Administration data shows only about 8% to 9% of retirees wait until age 70 or later to start their benefit. Roughly 91% file earlier, locking in a smaller monthly check for the rest of their lives. Personal finance host Suze Orman has spent years calling the decision to wait until 70 “the strongest move” a retiree can make, and the math is hard to argue with.

People claim early for understandable reasons. Some people are tired of working and some worry the program will not be there later. But others need the income now: the personal savings rate has dropped from 6.2% in early 2024 to 3.7% in the first quarter of 2026, leaving less cushion to bridge a few extra years before benefits start. A common refrain on retirement forums runs something like, “I paid in for 45 years, I want my money before something happens.” The instinct is real, but it usually costs more than people realize.

What Orman’s Strongest Move Actually Buys You

The benefit formula rewards patience in a specific way. Claim at 62 and your check is reduced by up to 30% compared with full retirement age. Wait past full retirement age, currently 67 for most people retiring today, and the benefit grows by about 8% per year up to age 70. There are no further increases after that.

Orman’s worked example puts it in dollars. A $2,000 monthly benefit at age 67 grows to $2,480 at age 70, compared with just $1,400 if claimed at 62. Waiting the full three years from 67 to 70 produces a check that is 24% larger than the age-67 amount and more than 75% larger than the age-62 amount. That difference is permanent. It applies to every future check.

It also compounds with inflation. The 2026 cost-of-living adjustment came in at 2.8%, and every annual COLA is calculated as a percentage of whatever your starting benefit is. A larger base means every future raise is larger too. Twenty years of COLAs on $2,480 pull far ahead of the same COLAs applied to $1,400.

The Couples Angle Most People Miss

For married couples, the delay decision carries a second payoff that often gets overlooked. When one spouse dies, the survivor keeps only the larger of the two benefits. Orman is direct about the implication: if a deceased spouse delayed claiming past full retirement age, the survivor can receive the full delayed benefit amount.

That makes the higher earner’s claiming age one of the most consequential decisions a couple makes together. If the higher earner waits to 70 and dies first, the surviving spouse inherits a check inflated by years of delayed retirement credits and every COLA that landed on top. If the higher earner claims at 62, that smaller number becomes the floor for the survivor, often for a decade or longer.

How the Wait Fits With Everything Else

Bridging the gap to 70 is the practical hurdle. Most people who delay do so by drawing down taxable or tax-deferred accounts in their late 60s, which can also lower the balance subject to required minimum distributions starting at 73. Spending savings now to buy a larger lifetime Social Security check is, in effect, purchasing inflation-adjusted longevity insurance from the federal government. No private annuity matches the terms.

The wait does not fit every situation. Serious health issues, a short family longevity history, or no other income to live on can all flip the calculus. Orman herself has said that someone with a terminal illness should take it early. For a healthy retiree with options, though, claiming early is the path of least resistance rather than the path with the best lifetime payoff.

What to Think Through Before You File

Two things deserve careful thought before claiming. First, the decision is close to irreversible: once benefits start, you generally have 12 months to withdraw the application, and only once in your lifetime. Second, if you are married, treat the higher earner’s filing date as a joint decision, because it sets the survivor’s income for whichever spouse lives longer.

Age 70 is not the right answer for every household. Health, cash flow, and tax picture all shift the math. The gap between what the formula rewards and what most retirees actually do, though, is wide enough that running your own numbers carefully is time well spent before signing up.

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