I'm considering retirement in 3 months at age 64 1/2. In good health. C friends and family of cousins, who live 4 hours away, could use my help now, so having time to do this is important. I also want to travel while I'm healthy. I have no kids or sibs. I've got 75k in saved cash and about 1M in retirement savings (including $130k in Roth and HSA). My SS at FRA (66 & 10 months) will be about 2600/mo. I'll have a tiny pension of $270/mo at age 65. Question: Should I hold off collecting SS till FRA and live on cash and 401k for a year or more? Or start SS when I stop working? Thanks!

Hi. You don't mention a marital history so I don't know whether or not you might qualify for survivor benefits now or in the future. If survivor benefits will never be a possibility for you, then it sounds like you'd likely be better off waiting until age 70 to claim your benefits. As long as you don't claim your Social Security retirement benefits prior to age 70, your permanent monthly benefit rate will continue to grow by an average of roughly 8% per year until you reach age 70. That's true even if you aren't working.

Rather that relying on my advice, though, you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options. That way you'll be able to compare your options so that you can decide which filing strategy you believe would be best for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry