My father is retired (age 66) and makes $35K between his pension and Social Security. He also has a traditional IRA with $60K that he is not currently withdrawing from. My mother is currently working (age 60) and makes $100K. She has a traditional IRA with $50K that she is not currently withdrawing from. They currently file taxes Married filing Jointly.
My mother plans to retire at 65. Her Social Security Benefits estimated at the time of retiring would be around $26K.
Assuming their IRAs remain roughly the same by the time of retirement, does it make sense to postpone claiming Social Security and instead withdraw from the IRA up to the top of the 12% tax limit at the time? If I understand correctly this would allow them to clear out their IRAs over the course of 2.5 years at 12% or less tax and gain the benefits of postponing Social Security.