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Why Do Married Men Claim Social Security Benefits So Early? Ignorance or Caddishness?

Author

Listed:
  • Steven A. Sass
  • Wei Sun
  • Anthony Webb

    (Center for Retirement Research, Boston College)

Abstract

Most married men claim Social Security benefits at age 62 or 63, well short of both Social Security’s Full Retirement Age and the age that maximizes the household’s expected present value of benefits (EPVB). This results in a loss of less than 4 percent in household EPBV. But essentially the entire loss is borne by the survivor benefit, falls nearly 20 percent. As many elderly widows have very low incomes, early claiming by married men is a major social problem.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven A. Sass & Wei Sun & Anthony Webb, 2007. "Why Do Married Men Claim Social Security Benefits So Early? Ignorance or Caddishness?," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2007-17, Center for Retirement Research, revised Oct 2007.
    • Handle: RePEc:crr:crrwps:wp2007-17
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Olivia S. Mitchell, 1999. "New Evidence on the Money's Worth of Individual Annuities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1299-1318, December.
    2. Manser, Marilyn & Brown, Murray, 1980. "Marriage and Household Decision-Making: A Bargaining Analysis," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 21(1), pages 31-44, February.
    3. Annamarie Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2005. "Financial Literacy and Planning: Implications for Retirement Wellbeing," Working Papers wp108, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    4. Jeffrey R. Brown & James M. Poterba, 1999. "Joint Life Annuities and Annuity Demand by Married Couples," NBER Working Papers 7199, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tiantian Dai & Wei Sun & Anthony Webb, 2024. "How do subjective mortality beliefs affect the value of social security and the optimal claiming ages?," International Studies of Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 92-116, March.
    2. Theodore Figinski & David Neumark, 2015. "Does Eliminating the Earnings Test Increase the Incidence of Low Income Among Older Women?," NBER Working Papers 21601, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Steven Diamond & Stephen Boyd & David Greenberg & Mykel Kochenderfer & Andrew Ang, 2021. "Optimal Claiming of Social Security Benefits," Papers 2106.00125, arXiv.org.
    4. Даниелян, Владимир, 2016. "Детерминанты Пенсионного Возраста: Обзор Исследований [Determinants of Retirement Age: A Review of Research]," MPRA Paper 73865, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. John B. Shoven & Sita Nataraj Slavov, 2012. "When Does It Pay to Delay Social Security? The Impact of Mortality, Interest Rates, and Program Rules," NBER Working Papers 18210, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. John B. Shoven & Sita Nataraj Slavov & David A. Wise, 2017. "Social Security Claiming Decisions: Survey Evidence," NBER Working Papers 23729, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Bronshtein, Gila & Scott, Jason & Shoven, John B. & Slavov, Sita Nataraj, 2020. "Leaving big money on the table: Arbitrage opportunities in delaying social security," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 261-272.
    8. John Shoven & Sita Slavov, 2013. "Recent Changes In The Gains From Delaying Social Security," Discussion Papers 13-019, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    9. Haurin, Donald & Moulton, Stephanie & Loibl, Caezilia, 2022. "The relationship of financial stress with the timing of the initial claim of U.S. Social Security retirement income," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    10. Jason Scott & John B. Shoven & Sita Slavov & John G. Watson, 2019. "Retirement Implications of a Low Wage Growth, Low Real Interest Rate Economy," NBER Working Papers 25556, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Natalia Zhivan & Steven A. Sass & Margarita Sapozhnikov & Kelly Haverstick, 2008. "An "Elastic" Earliest Eligibility Age for Social Security," Issues in Brief ib2008-8-2, Center for Retirement Research, revised Feb 2008.
    12. Philip Armour & Michael F. Lovenheim, 2016. "The Effect of Social Security Information on the Labor Supply and Savings of Older Americans," Working Papers wp361, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    13. Wei Sun & Anthony Webb, 2009. "How Much Do Households Really Lose By Claiming Social Security at Age 62?," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2009-11, Center for Retirement Research, revised Apr 2009.

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