Laurence Kotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University who has been answering questions and writing columns about Social Security each week for the past two years on PBS NEWSHOUR’s website. OpenRetirement has asked Professor Kotlikoff to post a Q&A each day from those columns. He has also developed software, called Maximize My Social Security, to help retirees secure the highest lifetime Social Security benefits. You can find the software here: www.maximizemysocialsecurity.com
Question: Can you receive a lump sum payment of your Social Security?
Answer: If you are over your full retirement age and file for a benefit of any kind, you can collect up to six months of that benefit in arrears for months after full retirement age. You’ll get a lump sum check for these back benefits. But taking retirement benefits in arrears will reduce your delayed retirement credit and leave you with permanently reduced retirement benefits.
If you suspend your retirement benefit, which you can do after full retirement age, you can, at any point, request receipt of all suspended benefits in a lump sum. But this too will deprive you, going forward, of the delayed retirement credits you earned between the time you suspended and the present.
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When it comes to personal finance, economics and our software care about one thing—your living standard. All questions in personal finance boil down to your living standard. Your decision about when and how to take Social Security can affect your living standard throughout your retirement.
I am a professor of economics and I’ve spent a good part of my academic career studying personal financial behavior. Here’s why my colleagues and I developed Maximize My Social Security. Deciding, on your own, which Social Security benefits to take and in which month to take them is incredibly difficult. Most households face millions of options. You can easily lose tens of thousands of dollars making the wrong choices.
My company’s software, Maximize My Social Security, can help you avoid costly mistakes and instead discover your maximized lifetime household benefits.
