Why I’m Not Bothering With a Social Security Strategy

Search the internet, and you'll see plenty of articles written by personal finance experts explaining why they plan to claim Social Security at a certain age. It's always helpful to understand different people's reasoning for filing for benefits at different points, since you essentially get an eight-year window to sign up.

But first, some background information on how Social Security works: The monthly benefit you're entitled to during retirement is based on your wages during your highest-paid 35 years of earnings. You're then entitled to that monthly benefit once you reach full retirement age, or FRA. FRA is based on your year of birth, as per the following table:

Year of Birth