Forget the 3-legged stool: Multi-level pyramid + strategic SS claiming

“Time to replace the three-legged-stool myth; a multilevel pyramid is a better analogy for retirement income.”  “The pyramid consists of five components: Social Security, homeownership, employer-sponsored retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and other assets.” The author suggests adding part-time employment, as well. Retirees should consider spending some of their retirement investments in the early years of retirement and “deferring Social Security benefits until they are worth more later.” For example, “Financial Engines research showed how a newly retired married couple, where the wife is 62 and the husband is 66, could boost their potential lifetime Social Security income by more than $130,000 by exercising some creative claiming strategies.”
The September 11 Financial Planning for Women speaker, planner Suzanne Dalebout, will address how to maximize Social Security benefits through strategic decisions on when to claim benefits.  Each year of delaying SS benefits results in an 8% increase in the monthly benefit so it can be prudent to spend retirement funds in IRAs and employer sponsored funds first in order to claim a larger Social Security payout by delaying receipt of benefits.  Mary Beth Franklin explains the new approach in the Investment News; she also writes for Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, one of my favorite information sources. http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20130526/REG/130529945