Social Security is still one of the most important retirement income streams most families will ever have. A cost-of-living headline is not a claiming plan. Neither is a bumper-sticker rule like “always wait until 70” or “never delay.”
What should you know before October? Three things: how to think about claiming age, how the benefit can be taxed, and what to model so you are not reacting to a COLA number.
This article is for education only. Claiming, tax, and Medicare outcomes depend on your own record, health, and income. Please refer to [LeonardiFamilyWealthcare.com](https://www.leonardifamilywealthcare.com) for full disclosures and additional resources.
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Does a Social Security COLA mean more money to spend?
Not automatically.
COLAs exist so the check keeps up with prices, at least on paper. The 2026 adjustment was 2.8 percent. Forecasters have pointed to a 2027 adjustment around 3.6 percent, with the official figure usually released in mid-October.
What the headline leaves out:
- Medicare Part B premiums can rise in the same season
- IRMAA surcharges can rise if income from two years earlier crossed a line
- Up to 85 percent of the benefit can be taxable, depending on other income
You can receive a larger check in January and still feel like you made no progress. That is not a reason to ignore the COLA. It is a reason to look at Social Security, IRA withdrawals, Roth conversions, and Medicare in one picture.
Medicare Annual Enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7. That window is for Medicare Advantage and Part D. It is not the Social Security claiming window. Do not turn both into one late-November scramble.
When is the best age to claim Social Security?
It depends on your health, your spouse’s benefit and health, whether you are still working, and whether you need the cash now. There is no single age that fits every household.
Full retirement age is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. You can claim as early as 62. Claim at 62 and the check is permanently reduced — about 30 percent below the full-retirement-age amount.
How much more do you get if you wait from 67 to 70? About 24 percent more than the full-retirement-age amount. That is 8 percent per year, stacked, not compounded.
Example: if the full-retirement-age benefit were $3,000 a month, waiting until 70 would be about $3,720 a month before future COLAs — $720 more per month for life.
When do you break even if you wait until 70? On a simple running total — ignoring taxes and ignoring whether you would invest the earlier checks — you often catch up in the early 80s, around age 82. The tradeoff is three years of checks you did not take. At $3,000 a month, that is about $108,000 never deposited. If those checks would have been invested, breakeven moves later. If a surviving spouse will keep the higher check, household math can favor delay even when one person’s personal breakeven looks tight.
“24 percent more” is a real number. “Always wait until 70” is still a personal decision.
What about claiming at 62 versus 70?
Using the same $3,000 full-retirement-age example:
- About $2,100 a month at 62
- About $3,720 a month at 70
- $1,620 more per month if you wait
You skip eight years of the smaller check — about $201,600 never deposited — then make up ground at $1,620 a month. On a simple running total, that catch-up lands around age 80. Living to 90 in this illustration, the age-70 claim collects more over a lifetime. Dying before the breakeven still favors the earlier claim. These figures ignore taxes, COLAs, and investment of the early checks.
How should a couple think about it?
Consider a hypothetical couple, Mark and Pat. Both are 64. Neither has claimed. Both can work a few more years. They have portfolio income and IRAs they have not tapped. They are deciding whether to file now, at 67, or closer to 70.
If they wait toward 70, lifetime household benefits can be larger — especially for the survivor, who generally keeps the higher of the two checks. That survivor piece is often the reason to delay one claim, usually the higher earner’s.
Two caveats before anyone files at 64.
**Health and cash.** If one spouse has a family history that makes a long retirement less likely, and the household needs cash so it is not selling IRA shares in a down market, claiming earlier can be the better plan. Delaying a benefit you need today for a larger benefit you may not live to collect is not optimization.
**Still working?** If you claim before full retirement age and keep earning, the earnings test can withhold part of the check once wages pass an annual limit. The withheld amount can be added back after full retirement age. It is still a cash-flow shock if you were counting on the full deposit.
The useful question is not what a neighbor or a video told you to do. It is this: given health, longevity, work plans, other income, and Live On needs, when does claiming help the plan instead of squeezing it?
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Is Social Security taxable?
It can be.
The IRS uses provisional income: adjusted income, plus tax-exempt interest, plus half of Social Security. Cross $25,000 single or $32,000 married filing jointly and up to 50 percent of the benefit can become taxable. Cross $34,000 single or $44,000 joint and up to 85 percent can become taxable.
Those dollar lines have not kept up with inflation the way tax brackets have. More retirees are pulled in each year.
Why can one IRA withdrawal cost more than it looks? That extra dollar does not only add one dollar of taxable income. It can make more of Social Security taxable at the same time. A Roth conversion that looked fine on paper in December can feel expensive in April. The same dollar can matter again two years later when IRMAA uses the lookback.
That is not an argument against RMDs or conversions. It is an argument for running Social Security, IRA withdrawals, and IRMAA in the same model.
Mark and Pat are also considering an $80,000 conversion because a relative did one. If they claim this year *and* convert, more of a new benefit can become taxable, and they can cross an IRMAA line that shows up in Medicare premiums two years later. They might still convert — a smaller amount, or over several years — and delay the first Social Security check so it does not land in the same tax year as the conversion. At 64, qualified charitable distributions are not available to them yet. QCDs start at 70½.
Retirement income streams work together only when you stop treating each decision as a separate project.
What should you model before mid-October?
1. Pull your Social Security statement. Look at 62, full retirement age, and 70. If you are married, pull both. Write down who has the higher benefit. That is the survivor conversation.
2. Build this year’s income picture: income so far, RMDs still due, conversions already taken or still planned, and realized capital gains.
3. Ask one tax question: if we claim this year versus next year, what happens to taxation of the benefit, and what happens to IRMAA two and three years out?
4. If you give to charity and you are 70½ or older, ask whether a QCD would lower this year’s income enough to matter for Social Security tax or IRMAA. If it might, start custodian paperwork now — not on December 28.
None of those steps requires you to file a claim this month. They help keep claiming, conversions, and Medicare from becoming three separate surprises.
Can you do this on a spreadsheet?
You can put the numbers on a spreadsheet. You often cannot see the combined effect.
A COLA headline is easy. A claiming calculator on a government site is easy. Stacking claiming age, the earnings test, taxation of benefits, RMDs, Roth conversions, and IRMAA over 25 to 30 years is not. A weak Social Security decision rarely looks like a disaster on day one. It looks like a smaller survivor benefit a decade later, or a Medicare bill you cannot connect to a conversion you made in 2026.
You do not need someone to click “file” at Social Security. You may need a real financial model if you want a confident answer to “Are we going to be okay?”
FAQ
Should everyone wait until 70 to claim Social Security?
No. Delay can raise the check by about 24 percent from full retirement age to 70. Health, cash needs, work, and a spouse’s survivor benefit can make an earlier claim the better plan.
Is the 2027 COLA a raise I can spend?
Not by itself. Premiums, IRMAA, and income taxes can offset part of the increase.
Can IRA withdrawals make Social Security taxable?
Yes. Extra income can raise provisional income and pull more of the benefit into the taxable column, and it can affect IRMAA two years later.
If you want help lining up claiming age, this year’s income, possible conversions, and IRMAA two years out, you can book a complimentary 15-minute Fit Call while calendar openings remain:
The Roth IRA Conversion Playbook (2026 Edition) and the Smart Tax Shield Legacy Playbook are under Books and Guides at LeonardiFamilyWealthcare.com.
Listen to A Smarter Way to Retire on Apple Podcasts
There really is A Smarter Way to claim Social Security — and A Smarter Way to Retire.
— Tony Leonardi, CFP®, Leonardi Family Wealthcare, Newtown, Conn