Unlock the Secret: The Guaranteed Way to Know When to Collect Your Social Security Payments in 2025

Whether considering whether to apply for Social Security, you should use all the tools to determine when to file. Making this choice will most likely be one of the most important decisions of your life, so consider all of your possibilities by utilizing the following calculators:

Social Security Retirement Calculator:

This tool automatically calculates your Social Security benefit if you begin payments at 62, full retirement age, or age 70, depending on your earnings history. If you have a Social Security account, you can adjust the parameters for a more accurate plan estimate depending on future wages or the year you retire.

US News Retirement Calculator:

This tool is more subtle since it calculates how long your retirement savings and income will last. If you enter all of your information, such as your age, how much pretax income you earn each year, the amount you have in retirement savings, and how much you save each month, it will calculate your retirement age, life expectancy, inflation rate, and retirement expenses. Even though the calculator cannot provide an exact estimate, it can provide a guideline that you can use to gain a better understanding of your future finances.

Planning for retirement:

This Consumer Financial Protection Bureau tool, like the Social Security tool, estimates your monthly or yearly Social Security payouts at various ages based on your birth date and your most significant annual salary. It also estimates how much money you will have received at specific periods in your life, allowing you to arrange your finances better. It is less accurate than the Social Security tool because it does not utilize your wages. Still, the information on how marital status, anticipated retirement age, spending expectations, retirement income sources, and longevity affect your benefits is invaluable.

Social Security Benefit Calculator:

The AARP Social Security Benefits Calculator lets you enter income information for both yourself and your spouse simultaneously, allowing you to compare benefits at different claiming ages and estimated retirement expenses. It also includes estimates for divorced people who have been married for at least ten years and have not remarried, but it does not include survivor payments for widows and widowers. Once your anticipated benefit has been determined, the tool displays potential retirement income sources such as Social Security, retirement savings, and pension plans. You can also change the retirement start year to see how it affects your financial situation.

Life expectancy calculator:

Although claiming as late as possible to maximize benefits is frequently recommended, the reality is that no one knows how long we will live. This Social Security Calculator will show you the average number of years someone your age and gender can expect to live. However, averages do not account for current health, lifestyle, or family medical history, so these estimates should be taken with a grain of salt. According to Brian Kuhn, a financial advisor with Wealth Enhancement Group in Fulton, Maryland, “The longer you believe you are going to live, the longer it makes sense to wait to take benefits, and the shorter you think you are going to live, the earlier it appears to be better to claim.”