Why do people claim their Social Security benefits when they do? The decision often owes to social norms, according to a study published in the Journal of Financial Planning.
The study, "Understanding Social Security Claiming Decisions Using Survey Evidence," sought to "to learn about people's rationales for their claiming decisions and their satisfaction with past claiming decisions."
Of the respondents who claimed their Social Security benefits within six months of reaching full retirement age, nearly half — 45.7% — said it "seemed natural." A quarter said they stopped working at that age.
Of those who claimed benefits prior to full retirement age, 14.8% did so because they didn't trust that Social Security benefits would not be cut in the future; 8.6% said they intended to invest the money and "end up ahead," while just 4.6% said they were advised to by a financial advisor.
Actually, financial advisors didn't enter substantially into the decision for any age group; among those who claimed at full retirement age or within six months of it, 10.2% said they were advised to claim at by a financial advisor, while only 2.7% of those who claimed more than six months after reaching FRA and 4.4% of those who are 62 or older and have not claimed yet said a financial advisor urged the delay.
Survey respondents offered a variety of other reasons, too, for claiming Social Security before they hit full retirement age: stopping work (38.4%), liquidity (21.2%), poor health (14.4%), and advice from friends or family to do so (6.9%).
