It is a retirement dilemma.

When planning for retirement cash flow, should a client start Social Security as early as age 62, letting individual retirement account money continue to grow, tax-deferred? Or should that client tap the IRA and wait for a larger Social Security benefit?

A client who would receive $1,500 a month at 62 would collect $2,640 a month, plus any cost-of-living adjustments in the interim, by waiting until 70, the latest starting date.