How to Money · Friday, September 25, 2026
A Northwestern Mutual study reveals that 25% of Gen X and 40% of baby boomers not yet eligible intend to claim Social Security benefits as soon as they turn 62, driven by fears of the system's insolvency. Filings have increased significantly in the past two years.
“Well, another thing, Matt, that it turns out some people are doing is they're claiming Social Security- early because of fear headlines that they're seeing, right, about the Social Security, the SSA being insolvent. And this Northwestern Mutual study found that 25% of Gen X and 40% of baby boomers who aren't yet eligible say they intend to claim as soon as they turn age 62. And that- Yeah, I saw filings are up 16%. compared to two years ago. That was the stat that stood out to me. I was like, wow, that's a big increase just from a couple. Of years ago.”
“And I think that this is really, it's really important for us to talk about this well. There are some people, younger folks in particular, who the writing's on the wall that benefits are likely to be cut unless something's done politically. So what does that mean for young people? That means probably saving a higher percentage of their income so they're prepared that they're able to cover more of their own retirement, relying on social security less, but not assuming that it won't be there. And when it comes to when you claim, there are so many different factors involved, right? And it's really hard to make a clean cut case for one thing or the other. But that's why episode 1127 with Mike Piper is worth listening to. He's a social security expert who built the software Open Social Security, which is a free place for you to kind of go run the numbers for yourself to see what's best for you. But knee jerk saying I'm going to claim as soon as I turn 62 because I'm worried about the health of the Social Security system. That's that's not great either. I don't love seeing that seeing that people are doing that.”