I think the OP mentioned that 1/2 of their investments are subject to RMDs. I'm in a similar situation as the OP.Isn't a key factor how much the OP has in traditional IRAs vs Roth vs taxable accounts?
Delaying social security means more income which combined with RMDs could add to the tax payments and IRMAA.
We are retired, age 66/67. My wife, with a 1/2 of my SS retirement benefit, retired at age 60 and started collecting SS at 64. This allowed us a bit more room to make some Roth Conversions. I retired at the end of 2023 and worked part time in 2024. My plan is to start collecting SS somewhere between age 68yrs 3mo, and 70yrs. When one of us dies (hopefully me) our total SS benefits will reduce by 1/3. The longer I delay SS, the more my wife receives as survivor benefits. depending on your respective health situation, life expectancy, and relative incomes, that is something you may with to consider. However, it is likely that your advisor would have mentioned it if it was appropriate for you.
My wife and I will be retiring in Q1 2026. We have about 3.2M in investments, and an 850k property. No debt. We will be 65/64 years of age. About 1/2 of our investments will be subject to RMDs. We have a somewhat diverse portfolio which has been slowly moving to income, away from growth. It is still heavily balanced towards growth. Our anticipated annual $$ need in retirement is about $112k. We do not generate this amount in our current income providing assets. We cover about half of that. If we turn on our combined SS when we retire, we pick up about $70k in income which combined with our portfolio assets more than covers our current need.
I would suggest you seriously rethink the idea of having your porfolio moving to income. For any portion of your portfolio that isn't in a tax advantaged account, I would strongly suggest trying to limit the amount of income your investments kick out. One of the more painful lessons I have learned is that while income is great, being able to determine how and when that income is taken is almost as important. RMDs are an example of that. The only ways to influence how little income you can take from your IRAs once RMDs start is to have reduced the size of your IRA beforehand (Roth conversions, withdrawals, or Qualified Charitable Distributions) or by making QCDs as part of your RMDs. Once you start SS, that becomes another income stream that you can't control. If you are invested in income producing investments in taxable accounts, that is more taxable income that you "have" to take whether you need it or not.
Those are two issues which I don't see as related at all. When to take SS doesn't have much to do with your AA unless you are thinking of a bond bridge to provide income between retirement and SS. Personally, I am using that time to do as much Roth conversions as makes sense.Our financial advisor is pressing us to delay collecting social security. I'm leaning the other way. I like being a bit heavy on growth. We have a moderate risk profile that I am comfortable with.
Increasing your income producing investments in your IRA (not Roth) may be appropriate. I would suggest that while you continue to look at your portfolio as a whole, that you keep clear distinctions in your mind as to the type of investments that you want to place in your Taxable, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and HSA.My ability to do analysis is basic spreadsheet stuff. However, my pseudo-math-based belief is that my portfolio should be mostly left alone, with the exception of additional drift towards income assets Bonds / REITs / whatever.
One of the things that I have struggled with is the idea of selling off securities to provide necessary income. It is a hard thing to do emotionally after trying to save diligently most of my adult life. Selling off equities to fund expenses is not yet comfortable, even though I know it is much better than trying to rely on income to fund my expenses.When I run future-value calculations to determine ROI for my portfolio, it appears to me that it makes much more sense to just turn on SS as soon as possible and leave my growth / income portfolio as much alone as possible. I have tried different permutations of portfolio balance, different rate of return scenarios and every time it just makes sense to use SS early instead of late.
Am I going to get bit later by IIRMA(sp?) or RMD taxes or ??? if I turn on SS sooner rather than later?
When you say 'it just makes sense to use SS early instead of late", what metric are you using? A rule of thumb that I use is that for every year I delay SS past my FRA I am increasing my benefit by 8%. An 8% inflation adjusted annual is much better than any other realistic return I have in my portfolio. I'd be willing to sell of any current investment to buy such a guaranteed investment. Delaying SS is simply buying that guaranteed investment.
Statistics: Posted by WeakOldGuy — Sat Oct 04, 2025 5:25 pm — Replies 14 — Views 1104