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By now, you may have heard: 70 is the best age for claiming Social Security benefits. Here's why. Because you have already reached your full retirement age — age 66 or 67 for most — you'll receive 100% of the benefits you are entitled to. Plus, for every year you delay beyond your full retirement age, you stand to get a boost of up to 8% to your benefits. Exactly how much of an increase you get is calculated based on the year of your birth and the number of months you delay. But that stops at age 70. If you're like many individuals, you're counting down the days until retirement. And waiting until age 70 might sound like a long time. The good news is that there is a next best age to claim.

The second best choice

Single Social Security claimants who want to hold off until age 70, but find they can’t quite wait any longer should select age 69 for the best trade off, according to Christopher Jones, chief investment officer at Edelman Financial Engines. That sacrifice may be as little as a few thousand extra dollars in additional lifetime benefits in exchange for starting a year earlier, according to Jones. “If you’re single, we’ll tell you you should wait until 70,” Jones said. “It is generally preferable to do so. "But it’s not quite as critical as it is going from 66 to 67, or 67 to 68.” In a low interest rate environment, it's hard to beat the potential increases for every year you delay claiming your benefits, Jones said. “That’s a guaranteed real rate of return backed by the federal government,” Jones said. “You can’t get real rates of return at 6% to 8% right now — not even close — in the marketplace.”

Who should delay benefits