There is a move that quietly converts a chunk of your savings into a guaranteed, government-backed raise that lasts as long as you do, and most retirees walk right past it because it feels backward.

You spend your own money first and leave a check you are entitled to sitting on the table. That discomfort is exactly why the Social Security bridge strategy is one of the most underused tools in retirement planning.

The idea is simple, even if the emotions around it are not. You retire in your early to mid-60s, cover living expenses from savings for a few years, and delay claiming Social Security until 70 so the monthly benefit grows to its maximum.

The savings you burn through in the meantime are not lost. They are being traded for a permanently larger check.

Why Waiting Pays More Than The Market Usually Does

The engine behind the strategy is the delayed retirement credit. For each year you postpone claiming past full retirement age, the monthly benefit grows by an 8% delayed retirement credit, up to a maximum of 24% above the full retirement age benefit for someone whose FRA is 67 who waits until 70.

Stack that on top of the early-claiming penalty and the full spread comes into view. In 2026, the Social Security Administration publishes maximum monthly benefits of $2,969 at age 62 and $5,181 at age 70 for workers at the taxable wage base. On a more typical benefit, a $2,000 full check at 67 shrinks to roughly $1,400 at 62 and climbs to about $2,480 at 70.

The reason this beats simply keeping your money invested comes down to what kind of return you are buying. The guaranteed 8% annual growth from delaying often beats what most retirees earn on equivalent portfolio withdrawals, especially on an inflation-adjusted, risk-free basis. No stock, bond, or annuity hands you a guaranteed 8% simple increase with a cost-of-living adjustment layered on top, and that raise applies to a benefit you cannot outlive.

The $200,000 Version, In Real Numbers

The strategy does not require a seven-figure nest egg. A mid-sized portfolio is often enough to bridge the gap, and the annuity market has built products specifically for it. In one example, a 62-year-old retires with $200,000 to use as a bridge to age 70 and places it into a 7-year multi-year guaranteed annuity yielding around 5.5%.

Here is why that structure stretches further than it looks. A retiree needing $3,300 a month for 84 months does not need the full $277,200 upfront, because with a MYGA earning 5.5% over seven years, roughly $220,000 today can generate that income by drawing down both interest and principal to zero at month 84. Current rates make the math work in the retiree’s favor. MYGA rates recently ranged from 5.0% to 5.75% for 5- to 7-year terms from carriers rated A- or better by AM Best.

You do not have to use an annuity at all. Plenty of retirees run the same play straight from a brokerage account or IRA. Under a bridge approach, a retiree at 62 with $800,000 in savings who needs $5,000 a month skips Social Security entirely and pulls the full $5,000 from the portfolio during the gap years, then starts a benefit of $3,720 at 70 instead of $2,100 at 62. That $1,620 monthly difference continues for life, and because the portfolio has to carry less of the load after 70, the strategy typically produces more total wealth over a long retirement.

The Survivor Benefit Nobody Prices In

For couples, the payoff runs deeper than one person’s monthly check, because delaying protects the spouse who lives longer. When one spouse dies, Social Security keeps the larger of the two benefits and drops the smaller one. That makes the higher earner’s claiming age a household decision rather than a personal one.

The numbers make the case on their own. A worker with a $3,000 primary insurance amount who delays to 70 receives $3,720 a month, and if they die, the survivor benefit at full retirement age is $3,720 rather than $3,000. Bridging to 70 does not just buy a bigger check for the retiree. It sets a higher income floor for a surviving spouse who may draw on it for another 20 years or more.

Where The Bridge Cracks

This is not a strategy that works in every situation, and the biggest risk shows up early. Sequence-of-returns risk is real, and a retiree who plans to delay to 70 but sees markets drop 30% in the first year ends up withdrawing from a declining portfolio. Selling investments into a downturn to fund living expenses can do lasting damage, which is why keeping two to three years of spending in cash or short-term bonds is the standard defense.

Health flips the whole calculation. Not everyone reaches age 70 or lives long after it, and the opportunity cost of lost investment gains and fewer active-retirement years can sting even if you end up with the largest possible check. Someone with a serious diagnosis or a family history of shorter longevity may collect more lifetime income by claiming early, full stop.

There is also a tax wrinkle worth watching during the drawdown years. Larger portfolio withdrawals can push income across the Medicare IRMAA threshold, which begins at $103,000 of modified adjusted gross income for individuals in 2026, and a single dollar over can cost $1,200 to $3,000 in higher premiums. The bridge years are prime territory for careful withdrawal sequencing and Roth conversions, not a set-it-and-forget-it drawdown.

Running Your Own Bridge

The strategy comes down to three honest inputs. Estimate your monthly shortfall between now and 70, confirm you have the savings or annuity capacity to cover it without selling into a bad market, and weigh your real health and longevity against the break-even, which for delay typically lands around age 80 to 81. If you are married, price in the survivor benefit, because that is where the largest dollars often hide.

Spending your own money while a benefit waits will always feel uncomfortable. The retirees who push past that discomfort, and who have the savings to do it safely, are the ones turning a mid-sized portfolio into a bigger, inflation-protected check that outlasts them.

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Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.