When You Should Take Social Security

Social Security is most Americans’ largest retirement asset, but the system is “maddeningly complex, and if you don’t figure it out, you can lose big bucks,” says one of the authors of a new book.

“It’s easy to leave tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table,” says Laurence Kotlikoff, who wrote Get What’s Yours: The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security with Philip Moeller and Paul Solman. “The benefits are there for the taking. You paid for them. And with a little effort, you can dramatically increase what you get.”

The Huffington Post