Suze Oman and Dave Ramsey are two financial guru that many followers trust. Not surprisingly, both were considering the main question of when to start collecting social security benefits. But their tips could not be more contradictory if they tried.
Although both Ramsey and Oman provide good justification for their suggestions, the reality is that Oman is probably right and Ramsey is probably wrong with the most suitable for social security recipients.
Let’s look at what each of these experts offers, and there are a few reasons why in most cases would probably be a better step.
Suze Oman has recently taken LinkedIn to provide tips on when to demand social security. Specifically, Oman said you should start your pension benefits after a full retirement age, which is 67 years old born after 1960.
Oman explained that you can start social security as soon as 62, but you should not. She said, “Don’t go for the reduced benefit of social security. If you are in good health, the best financial step you can do is not pretend to be social security before reaching the entire retirement age.”
Instead of claiming at a young age, Oman actually recommends waiting for up to 70 years. This is the last age when you can increase your benefits by postponing.
Ramsey took a very different approach. He is advised to claim social security benefits at the age of 62.
But Ramsey urges you to claim your benefits at such an age, but not to spend them. Instead, you should invest them. He thinks you should do social insurance checks and invest money as soon as you will get a better return than if you just postpone your claim and accept the benefits that are increased in doing so.
While Ramsey’s tips can theoretically look good, in practice this is not a great advice. On the one hand, there is no guarantee that you will be able to earn a higher return and get more money if you invest your benefits.
Pensioners are also usually advised to start moving their portfolio from the securities market as they grow older and get closer to time when they have to rely on retirement plans. This is because they cannot afford to risk too much money with a downturn in the market, losing a ton of it, and then they will have to start cash out to live.