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.
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By now, Social Security beneficiaries will have already seen a 2.5% increase in their monthly paychecks due to a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2025 that reflects a response to ongoing inflation.
Related: Suze Orman warns U.S. workers on Social Security, 401(k) change
For those who have not yet claimed Social Security benefits, Orman emphasizes her belief that the COLA increase is not a reason to claim those benefits early.
Delaying making an initial claim by a few years, or even until they reach 70 years of age, allows recipients to collect a substantially larger amount of money from their Social Security payments. And once a person turns 62, people’s accounts will be credited with each year’s COLA retroactively until they file a claim.
Other significant retirement considerations, Orman notes, are necessary to tackle. That is why she has developed a retirement planning checklist that can help people focus on a number of work items on which to start.
A retired couple is seen holding hands and walking on a beach. Personal finance media personality Suze Orman shares a checklist of some key retirement work items to help people prioritize their tasks.
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Suze Orman lists retirement tasks beyond claiming Social Security
Orman explains that anyone who is working, regardless of age, should begin the process of imagining their future retirement goals sooner than later.
“Planning for retirement doesn’t start when you stop working — it starts today,” Orman wrote. “The best way to retire with
confidence is to take action now while you’re still working.”
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Her checklist helps people focus on some key steps toward building a solid financial foundation, steering clear of mistakes, and crafting a plan for long-term security.
“The earlier you start, the better prepared you’ll be to enjoy the retirement you deserve,” she wrote.
Related: Suze Orman warns Social Security recipients of a looming threat
Suze Orman’s checklist for retirement readiness
The following is Orman’s list of top priorities for workers to check off as they plan for retirement:
Make it your goal to retire debt-free. Consider saving in tax-free retirement accounts: Roth 401(k), Roth IRA, HSA. Start working on your plan for how you will keep working until you are 70. Make sure you are helping your adult child become financially independent. Consider caregiving options for elderly parents that do not imperil your own retirement security. Make paying for your retirement a priority over borrowing for a child’s college. Inspect your house: Will it be safe and practical for an older you? Research long-term care insurance.
In her book, The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+ (2025 edition), Orman explains that her own lifelong experiences with work, debt and financial challenges prompted her to make it a mission to help people preparing to retire keep their earnings safe and secure.
The above checklist functions as her advice on where to begin.
“As I write this today, I am 73 years old,” she clarified. “There’s no question any more about whether I can relate to people nearing retirement, because I too have decades of my working life behind me. The time in the future where I will no longer work is not all that far away.”
Orman suggests that her passion for helping people with their retirement dreams comes from a focus on how her own financial hopes and desires can relate to others.
“I have plenty of expertise in the psychological and emotional tugs that take hold as we age,” she wrote.
“And I have empathy in spades — for your hopes, your fears, and your wishes for the generations ahead of you and the loved ones in step beside you.”
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