Making the most of your Social Security benefit

Read time: 2 to 3 minutes

You may not know exactly what your life will look like in the coming years, but one thing you can count on is the guaranteed income that Social Security can provide. So it’s important to include this valuable benefit in your retirement income strategy—and know how to make the most of it.

If you're eligible for the service, Vanguard Personal Advisor® can help.1 And one of the first tips we’ll give you? It’s never too early to start thinking about Social Security and how it can help you reach your goals for retirement.

There’s a choice to make—and it really matters

One way to gain confidence about your retirement income strategy is to understand your Social Security benefit. Social Security is a federal government program that provides a guaranteed monthly income, adjusted for inflation, for as long as you live. And it doesn't depend on the financial markets because it's backed by the U.S. government.

Social Security isn’t intended to be your only source of retirement income, though. So by deciding when it’s best to start collecting it after you become eligible, you can get a better idea of your full retirement income picture.
The longer you wait, the more you get
How much you receive each month in your Social Security check depends on when you start collecting the benefit. In fact, you'll get an 8 percentage point increase for every year you wait past your full retirement age to start collecting.2 An increase like that is hard to match in today's economic environment.

There’s more than just the dollar amount to think about, though. Working with a Vanguard financial advisor through Personal Advisor can help you consider the other factors—such as your health and your retirement lifestyle—when you’re making decisions about Social Security.

Our specialized tool is a good place to start

When you enroll in Personal Advisor, you not only get to work with a personal advisor. You also get access to a tool3 that can:
Help you understand your Social Security options.
Run projections to show you which options could work best for you.
Give you the confidence to make an informed decision.
How it works
Our tool can give you a basic estimate of the dollar amount you would receive each month based on your age. Or you can use the enhanced feature of our tool that considers additional factors, like your wages and health status. 
 
With an enhanced estimate, you’ll get options like these:
For illustrative purposes only.
Then we’ll talk about it
No matter how you use the tool, Personal Advisor can walk you through it, discuss any other factors that could affect your payments, and help you make a decision. Once you choose an estimate, we can use it to plan a more complete retirement income strategy. 

We won’t stop there

Including your Social Security benefit in your financial plan is just a small part of what you’ll get with Personal Advisor. We can create a custom plan for all your goals. And you’ll have ongoing access to our advisors whenever your situation changes—or if you just have a question about your money. 
 
This service is available through your retirement plan for about $30 each year for every $10,000 we manage.4,5 So you can feel confident that you’re getting expert advice at a great value. 
 
Remember—it’s never too early to map out how you’ll reach your financial goals now and in retirement. Let us help. Enroll in Personal Advisor today.
Enroll now
Whenever you invest, there’s a chance you could lose the money.

1To be eligible for Personal Advisor, you must have one of the following:

  • $250,000 or more in your employer-sponsored retirement plan at Vanguard. 
  • $50,000 or more in IRAs and taxable accounts—owned individually or as joint tenants with rights of survivorship—at Vanguard. 
  • $250,000 total among your employer-sponsored retirement plan, IRAs, and taxable accounts—owned individually or as joint tenants with rights of survivorship—at Vanguard. 

2Source: Social Security Administration. Retirement Benefits. 2024.

3You’ll also have access to our Social Security estimator tool if you enroll in Vanguard Digital Advisor®.

4Actual costs vary. Personal Advisor will reduce your gross advisory fee by the amount of revenue (such as expense ratio rebates) that Vanguard (or a Vanguard affiliate) collects on your portfolio in order to calculate the net advisory fee. Personal Advisor’s annual net advisory fee is approximately 0.30% across your enrolled accounts for a typical investment portfolio, although your actual net fee will vary depending on the specific holdings in each enrolled account. Your net advisory fee can also vary by enrolled account type. Plan participants’ actual advisory fees will vary depending on your plan’s lineup and the revenue that Vanguard receives from those investments. Please see your plan fee disclosure notices for the applicable annual gross advisory fees that apply to your plan assets.

Vanguard Digital Advisor's and Vanguard Personal Advisor’s services are provided solely by Vanguard Advisers, Inc. (VAI), a registered investment advisor. Please review the Vanguard Digital Advisor and Personal Advisor brochure  for important details about these services. Vanguard Digital Advisor’s and Personal Advisor's financial planning tools provide projections and goal forecasts, which are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results, and are not guarantees of future results. 

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