Nothing exists in a vacuum, meaning that even if you’ve determined the best time and
method of taking your Social Security benefits based on your age, objectives and lifelong
earnings, it won’t matter unless you properly coordinate your benefits with your overall
retirement income plan. Most people agree that Social Security is not enough to live on in
retirement, and needs to be supplemented with other sources of income. Therefore, it is essential
to make sure your other savings and investment vehicles are as reliable as Social Security and
capable of meeting the same financial objective: providing income that you can’t outlive.

As I noted in my white paper on required minimum distribution allocations, retirement
income for any purpose – whether it be living expenses, major purchases or satisfying RMDs –
should ideally come from interest and dividends on your savings and investment vehicles, not
from principal; just like your parents probably told you. The same concept applies when talking
about maximizing Social Security…..

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