Gen X: Here Is the Best Time To Start Claiming Your Social Security Benefits

No matter which generation you belong to, the best time to claim Social Security depends on your personal circumstances, including your financial health, your anticipated life expectancy and your retirement plans.

However, according to its 2024 Annual Retirement Study , Allianz Life found that only 62% of Gen X respondents felt comfortable about reaching their financial needs in retirement, compared to 82% of baby boomers and 77% of millennials.

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Additionally, 55% of Gen Xers wished they had saved more for their retirement years, but only 35% currently use a financial advisor and only 42% have a written financial plan. Those latter two stats are less than Americans from the two generation groups that precede and succeed them.

“Gen Xers are reaching crunch time for retirement planning,” Kelly LaVigne, VP of Consumer Insights at Allianz Life, told Axios. “That can feel stressful, but by preparing now, they can create a strategy that will help them seek their ideal retirement. The good news is that it is never too late to prepare for retirement. You can wish you started sooner, but you’ll never wish that you waited longer .”

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The Best Time for Gen X To Start Claiming Social Security

For those belonging to the “latchkey generation,” the best time to prepare for retirement is now. However, deciding when to claim Social Security benefits will depend upon your lifestyle needs and wants in retirement and figuring out how many more years you can work — along with how many more years you want to work.

Generally speaking, the earliest age to start claiming Social Security is 62, so those born between 1965 and 1980 can begin receiving benefits between 2027 and 2042, depending on their year of birth. But claiming Social Security at 62 will decrease your benefits permanently (typically, a 30% reduction in benefits).

However, waiting until full retirement age (67 for Gen X) will result in higher monthly benefit amounts. Waiting even longer, until the age 70, can further increase the monthly benefits (by 8% a year). Unless you will urgently need the income at 62, it’s recommended to carefully consider every factor and delay collecting Social Security until at least the full retirement age (FRA) of 67. Delaying until 70 is even better.

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Are Gen Xers More at Risk of Not Having Enough Income in Retirement?

Not only is Generation X the least prepared demographic, limping behind all other saver segments, but its members run the risk of not being able to financially support all the things they want to do in their golden years for other reasons.

According to CNN, older Gen X workers (and younger baby boomers) have less time to start saving for retirement and are relying on less of one source of retirement income — traditional pensions — than older baby boomers and Silent Generation retirees.

Additionally, due to the shift away from defined-benefit (DB) plans in the last few decades toward defined-contribution (DC) plans — such as 401(k)s — ensuring a dependable income in the post-work years is proving to be difficult for Gen Xers who want to accumulate savings and pay for essential family obligations at the same time.

“I think where it’s very stressful for (Gen X) is being sandwiched in that tug of war, saving for their retirement as well as helping aging parents,” said financial planner and Gen X mother Marguerita Cheng. “Even if they don’t have aging parents or their parents are fine, there is still that tug of war between retirement savings and helping their kids with education.”

For Gen Xers within a decade or more to retirement, now is the time most start to focus on retirement planning. For many, that will mean attempting to work longer, saving as much of their paycheck as possible and reducing spending significantly in order to strengthen their financial stability in retirement. For those with less time to spare, paying down debt and starting an emergency fund should be your immediate plans of action.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Gen X: Here Is the Best Time To Start Claiming Your Social Security Benefits