American workers getting a handle on their future plans for claiming Social Security often begin by asking themselves a simple question: Where do I start? Personal finance bestselling author and media personality Suze Orman provides an update on Social Security benefits for 2025 — and also offers people a straightforward checklist of tasks to complete.

Suze Orman gives some pretty top-notch advice, especially for those who are winding down for retirement. While I think you could do quite well for yourself by listening to her advice, I do think she tends to be far more conservative (at least in my humble opinion) when it comes to things like withdrawal rates

Orman goes on to say that "it is so smart for anyone in good health in their 60s to wait as long as possible to start receiving their Social Security retirement benefit." Although you can file as early as age 62, delaying benefits up to age 70 can make retirement far more affordable for those who don't have many other income sources.

When preparing for retirement, one of the biggest financial decisions you may face is whether to take a pension as a lump sum or opt for monthly payments. This dilemma recently came up on Suze Orman's “Women & Money” podcast,

A lot of people dream of being able to retire early and enjoy the freedom of not being bound to a job at a younger-than-average age. But as you might imagine, it takes a lot of money to be able to pull off an early retirement.

But when a financial planner named William Bergen did some deeper study, he concluded that withdrawing just 4% annually would allow retirees to weather the most tumultuous economi