Social Security Claiming Timing
and Older Adults’ Financial Wellbeing
April 30, 2025
1:00 P.M.
A new CRI Working Paper examines the impact of Social Security claiming timing on older adults’ financial outcomes by constructing an Optimization Failure (OF) index, which measures the difference between optimal and observed claim timing. The authors – Zeewen Lee, Ph.D. and CRI Non-Resident Scholar Manita Rao, Ph.D. find that sub-optimal claiming is associated with decline in real estate and total wealth, while also reducing liquidity constraints in the post-claiming period. They also find that these outcomes are more prominent among sub-optimal early claimers compared with those claiming sub-optimally late.
Register to join us on April 30, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. ET to learn more about this latest research and hear from experts about the importance of Social Security claiming timing and how it affects overall retirement readiness and financial well-being.
Moderator:
- Angela Antonelli, Research Professor and Executive Director, Center for Retirement Initiatives, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy
Panelists:
- Joel Eskovitz, Director, Social Security and Savings, AARP Public Policy Institute
- Manita Rao, Ph.D., Senior Advisor, AARP Public Policy Institute; and Non-Resident Scholar, Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives
- Sita Slavov, Ph.D., Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University