What Motivates Social Security Claiming Age Intentions? Testing Behaviorally Informed Interventions Alongside Individual Differences.

This article systematically investigates psychological factors and behaviorally informed interventions influencing the intended claiming age for Social Security Administration (SSA) retirement benefits among older Americans. Across four large preregistered experiments involving adults aged 40 to 61, six interventions—such as injunctive normative messaging, gains framing, highlighting common regret about early claiming, benefits to the future self, and self-reflective exercises—consistently delayed intended claiming age relative to controls. Additionally, individual differences including intertemporal discounting, subjective life expectancy, and perceived ownership of SSA benefits significantly predicted claiming intentions. The findings offer evidence-based insights for policymakers, financial planners, and consumer finance organizations aiming to support more optimal SSA claiming decisions, while noting that interventions should be targeted carefully given heterogeneity in retirees' circumstances and that actual claiming behavior may differ from stated intentions.