{"id":588457,"date":"2026-08-10T01:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T01:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/588457\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T01:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T01:22:11","slug":"im-now-eligible-for-social-security-but-im-wealthy-and-i-frankly-dont-need-the-money-would-i-be-crazy-to-decline-my-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/588457\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m now eligible for Social Security \u2014 but I\u2019m wealthy and I frankly don\u2019t need the money. Would I be crazy to decline my benefit?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Around 75.6 million Americans<\/a> claimed Social Security benefits in June 2026. This includes people collecting spousal benefits, disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income, and more.<\/p>\n

Not everyone who claims Social Security needs the money. In fact, former President Joe Biden\u2019s tax returns<\/a> showed he received income from Social Security, and it\u2019s pretty unlikely he was waiting for his checks to pay any bills at the White House.<\/p>\n

Top Picks<\/p>\n

But some people with a lot of money may decide that collecting their benefits simply isn\u2019t worth doing.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pretend, for example, that Mia is in her mid-60s and she\u2019s done very well for herself. Since she\u2019s worth millions and needs nothing, she\u2019s considering declining her Social Security benefits. Should Mia pass up her funds, or should she start collecting despite not needing the money?<\/p>\n

Mia isn\u2019t required to collect Social Security<\/p>\n

First things first. Mia absolutely has the option to just not claim Social Security.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you contributed to Social Security and are eligible for the benefit, then when and if you collect is a personal decision,\u201d Domenick D\u2019Andrea<\/a>, founder of Dan Darah Wealth Management, told Moneywise.<\/p>\n

No one is going to force Mia to start collecting her Social Security checks, and there\u2019s some evidence that wealthy people don\u2019t. For example, the most recently available tax returns in 2015 for Bill and Hillary Clinton<\/a> show they didn\u2019t collect any Social Security, despite being old enough to qualify.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to officially deny your benefits if you don\u2019t want them either. Money you contributed over the years isn\u2019t just sitting there waiting for you. The money you paid in while working went to fund the retirement of people who were retired at the time, while future workers will fund your retirement if you collect.<\/p>\n

Read More: Millionaires under 43 hold only 25% of their wealth in stocks. Here\u2019s where their money is actually going<\/a><\/p>\n

You may still want to collect benefits even if you have money<\/p>\n

Although you don\u2019t have to claim Social Security, many wealthy people choose to do so anyway, and there are good reasons for that \u2014 including the possibility of facing large unexpected expenses in the future.<\/p>\n

No one can predict what will happen during a decades-long retirement, so your Social Security benefits can serve as a form of insurance against financial ruin, as these benefits are a reliable, guaranteed source of lifetime income that\u2019s there if you need it.<\/p>\n

For example, D\u2019Andrea suggested that \u201cyou could claim the benefit and potentially purchase long-term care insurance, so if you ever need to make a claim, you can protect your assets as you see fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019re also entitled to the money, and there\u2019s no shame in taking it even if you\u2019re very well off. In fact, the creator of Social Security, Franklin D. Roosevelt chose payroll tax as a means of funding Social Security because then \u201cno damn politician can ever scrap my social security program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because FDR made Social Security an \u201cearned\u201d benefit open to anyone who meets the work requirements*,* it\u2019s become one of the country\u2019s most popular and successful programs. If you take advantage of it despite being rich, you\u2019ll be doing exactly what FDR intended \u2014and you can still use the money strategically.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could also claim the benefit that you qualify for and potentially donate it to charity or help less fortunate family members,\u201d D\u2019Andrea said.## Forgoing Social Security means you\u2019ll create complications with Medicare premiums<\/p>\n

If you decide not to claim Social Security, you must be aware that this can affect your Medicare coverage. Many retirees have Medicare payments directly collected from Social Security. If you aren\u2019t getting benefits, this won\u2019t happen for you.<\/p>\n

Be sure you sign up with Medicare when you first become eligible at 65. Otherwise, you could face a 10% penalty<\/a> for late enrollment for each full year you delayed signing up for Part B. Once you\u2019re signed up, you need to pay your bill for coverage. You should receive the CMS-500<\/a> quarterly and must make sure to pay to protect your coverage.<\/p>\n

The case for foregoing your benefit<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s a lot of hassle and very little to gain by not claiming Social Security, there is one potential benefit.<\/p>\n

The Trust Fund for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance <\/a>program is expected to run dry as soon as 2032, which would necessitate an automatic 22% across-the-board cut to benefits it pays out.If you paid into the system but didn\u2019t claim benefits, you could play a small part in helping Social Security\u2019s finances since you paid in but didn\u2019t collect.<\/p>\n

While one person giving up benefits isn\u2019t going to have a big impact on Social Security, if more wealthy retirees did the same, then that may start to move the numbers a bit and reduce the likelihood of big cuts occurring that could affect the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n

What To Read Next<\/p>\n

Robert Kiyosaki\u00a0issued grim warning for baby boomers. Many could be \u2018wiped out\u2019 and homeless \u2018all over\u2019 the country. How to protect yourself now<\/a><\/p>\n

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Around 75.6 million Americans claimed Social Security benefits in June 2026. This includes people collecting spousal benefits, disability…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[72,176,61,60,174,175],"class_list":["post-588457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588457","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=588457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}