What Vanguard Says About When to Claim Social Security

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]The biggest financial risk retirees face is running out of money late in life.

[00:00:05]This risk is primarily driven by longevity, inflation, and sequence risk.

[00:00:10]Delaying Social Security directly addresses those risks because it increases the amount of income that is guaranteed, inflation protected, and completely independent of market performance. Research from Vanguard describes delayed claiming as a way to create a higher floor to consumption and reduce the probability of outliving assets. Another analysis from the Bipartisan Policy Center and BlackRock found that delaying retirement and Social Security claiming from age 65 to 67 increased modeled lifetime spending by 16% and reduced downside risk by 15%.

[00:00:50]Those are significant changes to retirement outcomes by just a two-year delay.