This Social Security mistake is costing Americans thousands

One Social Security mistake is silently draining retirement accounts—here's what you need to know.

Transcript

00:00One of the big mistakes that people make with Social Security is to claim early.

00:04The earliest age at which you can claim Social Security is age 62.

00:08And that's when you'll get the reduced benefit.

00:12And that reduced benefit is for the rest of your life.

00:15And so I think oftentimes people say, well, I'm going to claim Social Security at age 62

00:19because it's my money or Social Security is going away.

00:23So I might as well claim it while I can.

00:25And those are actually the wrong reasons to claim Social Security.

00:29One of the things that you want to think about when you're claiming Social Security is,

00:32how can I, thinking about, especially if you're in a household,

00:36how can I think about creating the largest benefit I can for my surviving spouse,

00:42especially if you're in a couple?

00:44And one of the things that happens oftentimes is the highest wage earner will claim Social

00:48Security benefits without regard to their surviving spouse, who may be the lower wage

00:51earner.

00:52And oftentimes what you want to do is to make sure that the surviving spouse receives the

00:57highest possible benefit.

00:59One of the things that we know in this country is that about 10% of widows in this country

01:04live in poverty.

01:06And one way to sort of avoid that from happening is to make sure that you're claiming Social

01:11Security at the latest age possible that makes sense for you and your spouse, so that if

01:16you should pass on, the benefit that your survivor receives is the highest possible.