Q. I’m 66 years old. I’m considering the timing for taking Social Security. I am comfortable waiting until age 70. I understand my cash requirements going forward and I have the money assets outside of Social Security to support deferral.

But I have a concern. I looked at the impact of taking Social Security as it would affect my portfolio withdrawal rate. Here is how it would affect the coming year:

• Without Social Security at age 66, my withdrawal rate for 2017 would be 4.0 percent.
• With Social Security at age 66, the withdrawal rate for 2017 would be 2.6 percent.

I’m not sure if this is enough information for analysis, but I'd appreciate your comments. ---R.M., by email