A Windfall From Social Security?

[landover]

One more reason to delay taking social security. It is possible to get up to 6 months SS amount in a lump sum if SS started after full retirement age: WSJ article

 

[W2R]

Wow, that doesn't sound like something most people would want to do, since your monthly payments would be less than otherwise. It sounds like what you would do if you delayed SS to get the higher payments later on, and then found out you were dying of cancer or some such thing.

While it sounds morbid, the best candidates for a lump-sum approach are single people who know they don't have long to live.