Retire at 55? What happens to your SS?

Happy Tuesday.

Every retirement plan rests on a few things we assume will hold steady for as long as we need them. The catch is that the biggest of those assumptions get decided in Washington, not at your kitchen table. That gap between what you've been promised and what you can actually count on is expensive to ignore.

On The Money Today:

Let's get into it.

If you retire at 55, the clock starts on a decision that follows you forever. Claim Social Security at 62 and every check you collect is permanently 30% smaller. Wait until 70 and it's 24% larger. Our Must Read breaks down what that spread means for your plan.

Buffett spent six decades building Berkshire Hathaway, and one of his last warnings as its leader had nothing to do with picking stocks. It was about the dollars sitting in your accounts, and what Washington's spending could do to them. He also named the one move he thinks works for almost anyone.

Why it matters: The federal government ran a $1.97 trillion deficit in just the first 11 months of fiscal 2026, and the national debt has now passed $40 trillion. Buffett warned that the natural course of government is to make its currency worth less over time, and that erosion lands hardest on anyone living off savings they can't easily replace.

Most investors stick to stocks and bonds — but institutions have long diversified into something else entirely. Private equity, private credit, art and litigation finance have historically been out of reach for everyday investors, until now.

Willow Wealth gives you access to all of them from a single account. Hand-pick your own investments or let a managed portfolio do the allocating for you. Minimums start at just $5,000, with fees that typically range from 1% to 4% depending on the offering.

A historian who studies how Americans retire says the program won't survive in its current form, and his advice for anyone still working is blunt. Even if you don't buy his prediction, the numbers behind it are real. What he'd hang onto instead could change when you decide to leave work.

Why it matters: Social Security's retirement trust fund is projected to run dry in 2032, which would trigger an automatic 22% cut to checks unless Congress steps in. That's a direct hit for the 41% of Americans 55 and older who expect Social Security to be their main source of retirement income.

Millions of Americans say they'd walk away from work tomorrow if the money allowed it. But Social Security calculates your check using your 35 highest-earning years, and stopping at 55 can leave that 35-year record short in ways most early retirees don't notice until they claim. Find out how it works and what you can do to soften the blow.

Why it matters: Social Security won't pay anything until 62, and claiming that early locks in a check up to 30% smaller. Retire at 55, and you could be covering 7 to 15 years of living costs from savings alone before your benefits start.

The correct answer is A) 4%. The 4% rule is a widely used guideline suggesting you can withdraw 4% of your retirement savings in year one, then adjust for inflation each year after, without running out of money over a 30-year retirement. Whether it holds depends on market conditions and how long you actually live — which is exactly why the timing of Social Security matters so much.