9/24/2015 – How Millions of Americans Are Flubbing Retirement (Money)

The fact that many Americans aren’t getting the most out of Social Security isn’t exactly news. With savings rates low and the economy still trying to find a groove, retirees may simply need the money right away.

Here’s what is news: New evidence suggests a big portion of would-be retirees have enough savings to put off receiving Social Security checks for at least a few years. But they still aren’t doing so, raising the troubling prospect that they’re leaving money on the table.

The new findings, by researchers at Stanford, George Mason University, and the Treasury Department, examined tax returns for American taxpayers born in 1940—and who therefore retired starting about a decade ago—examining both when they claimed Social Security and the balances in their individual retirement accounts. Other wealth, like 401(k) plan balances, weren’t examined because it isn’t included in tax returns.

The results were striking: Roughly a third of those that claimed prior to full-retirement age—including millions of Americans—had enough IRA wealth to put off taking Social Security for two years, and about a fourth had enough wealth to put off taking it for four years.

Read the full article in Money.