ocial Security benefits and how to claim them is becoming a prominent topic in the national discussion about baby boomers’ financial retirement readiness. It doesn’t take much searching to find articles that describe strategies for maximizing Social Security, perhaps because of the devastation of millions of boomer nest eggs during the Great Recession. Securian Financial Group wanted to find out if boomers now see Social Security as a strategic element of retirement income planning. For more info: www.nafcu.org/securian

1. hij abc
How much will I get?
Securian’s study of baby boomers’
Social Security strategies
Social Security benefits and how to claim them is becoming February 2013
a prominent topic in the national discussion about baby boomers’
financial retirement readiness. It doesn’t take much searching to
find articles that describe strategies for maximizing Social Security,
perhaps because of the devastation of millions of boomer nest eggs
during the Great Recession. Securian Financial Group wanted to find
out if boomers now see Social Security as a strategic element of
retirement income planning.
Securian commissioned an online study of 804 consumers aged 50-65
to learn the extent of Social Security’s role in boomers’ retirement
income planning. Specific areas of interest included:
• whether pre-retirees have explored their options for claiming
Social Security;
• whether they have developed plans for claiming Social Security;
• whether they changed their Social Security plans in light of recent
economic events;
• when they began planning or expect to begin planning;
• factors that prompted them to plan.
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2. Key findings: The Planners
The Securian survey revealed that baby boomers fall into two distinct Figure 1. Planners and Non-planners
groups of preparedness for claiming Social Security retirement Which of the following best describes
benefits: Planners and Non-planners. Planners are those who have your experience in planning for your SS
developed (or are developing) strategies for maximizing their Social retirement benefits?
Security benefits. Of the pre-retirees surveyed, 18 percent (147) of
18% of those surveyed are Planners
them are Planners. [Figure 1]
Nearly half of the Planners created or started to create their plans
10.3%
between the ages of 60 and 65. The ages of 62, 50 and 55 stand
8.0%
out as benchmarks for claiming, with 20 percent, 10 percent and
37.7%
10 percent, respectively, starting at those ages.
What prompted them to start planning or tweak their plans?
The impact of the Great Recession casts a dark shadow over this 44%
generation, who had so much to lose and not enough time to regain
it before “retirement age,” though that deadline has shifted for many
of them. Half of the Planners started focusing on Social Security Non-planners
within the last three years, the most common reason being Concern Beginning to explore options 37.7%
Have not started to explore options 44.0%
whether retirement savings will provide enough income in retirement
with 44 percent. Need to decide on retirement age was a close Planners
second with 42 percent. [Figure 2] Explored options and am developing a plan 8.0%
Have a plan in place 10.3%
Figure 2. Planners (n=147)
What prompted you to begin planning for
claiming your SS benefits? Count Percent
Concern whether retirement savings will provide enough income 65 44.2%
Need to decide on retirement age 62 42.2%
My health 45 30.6%
Assessing specific cash flow needs in retirement 44 29.9%
Uncertainty about future of SS 44 29.9%
Advice from already retired friends or family 26 17.7%
Health of spouse 16 10.9%
Advice from financial advisor/professional 15 10.2%
Death of spouse 5 3.4%
Nothing specific prompted me 4 2.7%
Death of parent 2 1.4%
How much will I get? Securian’s study of baby boomers’ Social Security strategies – February 2013 2

3. When asked what changes Planners made to their Social Security
strategies: [Figure 3]
• nearly 60 percent said they changed their retirement age;
• almost 48 percent said they changed the age they’ll start claiming
Social Security benefits;
• nearly 40 percent indicated their changes involved their spouse’s
retirement age.
Figure 4. Planners (n = 147)
Figure 3. Planners (n = 147) Based on your plan, do you think you will
What changes have you made to your plan? Percent maximize your Social Security benefits?
56% said “NO” or “NOT SURE”
Changed age at which I’ll retire 58.9%
Changed age at which I’ll begin collecting SS benefits 47.9%
Changed how much I spend 41.1%
Will work PT in retirement 39.7% 37.4%
Changed how I should invest my savings 21.9%
Changed age at which my spouse will retire 13.7% 44.2%
Changed age at which my spouse will begin collecting SS benefits 13.7%
Coordinated dates at which spouse and I will begin collecting SS benefits 12.3%
18.4%
Yes 44.2%
Even though they’re making plans and perhaps trying to generate a No 18.4%
reasonable estimate of the amount of Social Security income they’ll Not sure 37.4%
receive in retirement, many Planners are not convinced they’ve
developed the right strategy. When asked whether they think they
will maximize their benefits, 56 percent said “NO” or “NOT SURE.”
[Figure 4]
Key findings: The Non-planners Figure 5. Non-Planners (n = 657)
At what age do you expect to begin exploring
The large majority (82 percent) of boomers who participated in
your options for claiming SS benefits?
Securian’s survey are not rushing their decisions about when and
how to claim Social Security. Non-planners are either just beginning % 64% say they’ll start
or have not yet started to explore their options. [FIgure 5] 80
planning between the
70 ages of 60 to 65.
• 64 percent say they’ll start planning between the ages of 60 to 65.
60
• 18 percent say they’ll begin at age 60.
50
• 18 percent will start at age 62.
40
• 15 percent will start when they’re 65.
30
26.3%
20
10 6.7%
2.8%
0
50-59 60-65 66-69 70-75
Age range
How much will I get? Securian’s study of baby boomers’ Social Security strategies – February 2013 3

4. One similarity between the Planners and the Non-planners is the
relative popularity of the Social Security website as a source of
information. [Figure 6]
Figure 6.
Which of the following sources do you plan to seek advice from when
developing a plan for claiming SS benefits? Non-planners Planners
SS Website 65.9% 59.9%
Local SS office 39.0% 21.8%
Already retired friends or family 35.9% 24.5%
Online tool/calculator 33.2% 25.2%
Financial advisor 26.8% 22.4%
Retirement plan provider/employer 21.6% 15.6%
Articles in newspapers/publications 14.6% 15.6%
Accountant/CPA 14.0% 6.8%
None 7.2% 10.9%
Attorney 4.3% 3.4%
• 66 percent of the Non-planners expect to visit socialsecurity.gov
while educating themselves about Social Security. About
60 percent of the Planners use the site.
• 39 percent of Non-planners say they will physically go to their
local Social Security offices for information. Among the Planners,
22 percent checked this option.
• Retired friends and family will be a source for 36 percent of
non-planners and 25 percent of Planners.
• Financial advisors are considered a source of information about
Social Security by 27 percent of Non-planners and 22 percent
of Planners.
How much will I get? Securian’s study of baby boomers’ Social Security strategies – February 2013 4

5. The Non-planners are more pessimistic about the future of Social
Security. More than 16 percent of them say they expect to receive no
Social Security benefits. Only four percent of Planners expected to
receive no benefits. Among the more optimistic Non-planners,
27 percent estimated that 40 to 59 percent of their retirement
income will be Social Security. [Figure 7]
Figure 7.
What percentage of your retirement income do you expect to come from
Social Security? Non-planners Planners
0%, I am not relying on any income from Social Security. 16.6% 4.1%
Don’t know N/A 37.4%
< 20% of retirement income 6.9% 8.2%
20%-39% of retirement income 24.1% 15.0%
40%-59% of retirement income 27.4% 17.7%
60%-69% of retirement income 3.7% 0.0%
70%-89% of retirement income 10.7% 8.8%
> 90% of retirement income 10.7% 8.8%
Conclusion
Conventional wisdom about how and when to claim Social Security
benefits is to delay it as long as possible to receive more monthly
benefits under the delayed retirement credit: Those born in 1943
or later receive eight percent more benefits per year for every year
past the full retirement age they wait to draw from Social Security.
A person whose full retirement age is 66 will receive 32 percent
more per month if she waits until she’s 70 to file her claim. To
support herself until then, she’s advised to spend down her personal
retirement savings.
Let’s say she turns 70 in 2022. At the rate US longevity is rising, she
could easily celebrate her 90th birthday in 2042 in reasonably good
health. But, according to an extrapolation from Investor’s Business
Daily,1 the most recent estimate from the Congressional Budget
Office indicates the Social Security Trust Fund will have been broke
nine years by then, having run out of money in 2031.
Given this hypothetical but plausible scenario, the question in some
baby boomers’ minds may not be “How much will I get,” but “Will
Social Security outlive me or will I outlive Social Security?”
1
“Social Security Trust Fund Likely to Run out in 2031,” www.investors.com, February 5, 2013 http://bit.ly/XrmmWn
How much will I get? Securian’s study of baby boomers’ Social Security strategies – February 2013 5

6. About Securian Financial Group, Inc.
Since 1880, Securian Financial Group and its affiliates have provided financial security for individuals and businesses in the form of insurance,
investments and retirement plans. Now one of the nation’s largest financial services providers, it is the holding company parent of a group of
companies that include Minnesota Life Insurance Company.
Securian Financial Group, Inc. Insurance | Investments | Retirement
www.securian.com
400 Robert Street North, St. Paul, MN 55101-2098
©2013 Securian Financial Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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