{"id":295381,"date":"2026-02-13T03:58:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/295381\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T03:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T03:58:07","slug":"what-to-do-in-your-60s-to-protect-social-security-income","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/295381\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Do in Your 60s to Protect Social Security Income"},"content":{"rendered":"

We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. Learn more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Financial planning in your 60s comes with a new factor: Social Security. Because you can start claiming your benefits at age 62, it\u2019s\u2019 important to take several steps to protect \u2014 and potentially boost \u2014 your lifetime income.<\/p>\n

Here are five steps everyone in their 60s should take now to help ensure they make the most of Social Security.<\/p>\n

1. Review your benefits estimate<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to guess how much you will receive from Social Security. The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) website offers tools<\/a> to calculate an estimate of how much you\u2019ll receive from the government.<\/p>\n

Knowing how much you\u2019re likely to get can help you plan for your retirement overall, which may include pushing your Social Security claim date out so you can receive more income over your lifetime.<\/p>\n

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2. Audit your earnings record<\/p>\n

Each year, your employer tells the SSA how much you\u2019ve earned, and that data is factored into how much Social Security you\u2019ll receive.<\/p>\n

Log in to your account via the SSA’s website<\/a> to review your earnings record. If any earnings are missing, find proof of the earnings \u2014 such as a W-2 form, tax return or pay stub \u2014 then contact<\/a> the SSA.<\/p>\n

Correcting any mistakes in your earnings history will result in new estimates about how much you will receive from the program. You can use this new information to determine if you can retire early and live off Social Security or if it is worth waiting a few more years.<\/p>\n

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3. Decide on your ideal claiming window<\/p>\n

Your ideal claiming window depends on your financial situation. But keep in mind that if you claim as soon as you can, your benefits will be smaller than if you wait.<\/p>\n

The longer you work, the more you\u2019re likely to receive from Social Security when you claim your benefits. Social Security benefits automatically increase as you defer, and working extra years can boost your lifetime earnings, including across your 35 highest-earning years, which the administration considers when deciding on your benefit\u2019s size.<\/p>\n

Working longer also gives you more time to build your nest egg. You can make catch-up contributions and give your existing portfolio more time to grow before you have to live off it.<\/p>\n

4. Address debt and spending habits<\/p>\n

People claim Social Security early to keep up with living expenses, but if you can reduce those same costs, you may be able to hold off on claiming. Getting rid of unused subscriptions and reviewing your credit card statements for expenses you can eliminate may help.<\/p>\n

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5. Update your tax and investment withdrawal strategy<\/p>\n

Some retirees live off their portfolios for a few years before claiming Social Security. This strategy gives your Social Security checks more time to grow and can potentially lower your tax bill and make your required minimum distributions (RMDs) smaller.<\/p>\n

RMDs are a mandatory withdrawal once you hit age 73 that is equal to a percentage of your portfolio\u2019s value each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[72,176,61,60,174,175],"class_list":{"0":"post-295381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}