A Social Security stop gap is the retiree equivalent of a bridge loan — you cover income for a defined stretch of years so you don't have to trigger a permanent, lifetime-reducing decision (claiming Social Security early).
The stop gap runs from your retirement date to age 70. It's funded from your own IRA or 401(k). When Social Security turns on, the stop gap turns off. Clean handoff.
Why a Stop Gap Beats Claiming Early
Claiming Social Security at 62 permanently reduces your check by ~30% versus FRA and by ~43% versus age 70. That reduction never comes back — it also reduces the survivor benefit your spouse relies on after you're gone.
A stop gap trades some of your IRA balance now for a bigger, inflation-adjusted, government-backed lifetime check. That's an excellent trade for the higher earner in a couple with average or better health.
How to Build a Stop Gap
Two clean approaches:
Period-certain SPIA. A 5-year period-certain SPIA (if bridging from 65) or 8-year (if bridging from 62) from an A-rated carrier like Athene, Corebridge, Pacific Life, Nationwide, or Brighthouse. You hand them a lump sum; they send monthly checks for exactly the term you chose, then stop. Behaviorally raid-proof.
Treasury / CD ladder. Rung per year, interest auto-paid to checking. Slightly better rates than the SPIA at current levels. Stays fully liquid. Requires discipline.
Both do the same job. Pick the SPIA if the risk you're managing is yourself — the temptation to pull money out during a market drop or a home renovation. Pick the ladder if you're steady.
The Handoff Should Be Seamless
Set the SPIA or ladder up to pay approximately your projected age-70 Social Security benefit each month. When Social Security starts, the stop-gap payment ends. From the outside, nothing about your monthly cash flow changed — only the funding source.
This matters psychologically. If your monthly retirement paycheck looks the same on the day you turn on Social Security as it did the month before, you've engineered away the anxiety that drives most early-claim decisions.
The RMD and Tax Side Effects
Because you're drawing IRA dollars in your 60s, your RMD base at 73 is smaller. Smaller RMDs mean less taxable income later, less Social Security taxation, and less IRMAA exposure on Medicare.
If you also have taxable-account cash to pay conversion taxes, running Roth conversions in the same low-bracket years is a stacked win: the stop gap pulls IRA money down at low rates, the Roth conversion moves what's left into a tax-free bucket.
Honest Case Against a Stop Gap
It doesn't work for everyone. If your IRA is small relative to the bridge you'd need, don't drain it — you'll end up with a slightly larger Social Security check but zero flexibility.
If you're single and in poor health, the delay math weakens. The break-even is roughly age 82, and if you don't reach it, you left money on the table.
If you're the lower earner in a couple, don't bother delaying — your smaller check disappears at first death anyway.
The Sizing Rule of Thumb
How big does your stop gap need to be? Roughly the number of monthly payments you need multiplied by the size of each payment, discounted at today's rates. For a 65-year-old bridging 5 years to a $3,000/mo target, that's typically in the neighborhood of 55–60 months of payments as a lump sum — call it $165K to $180K depending on rates.
Never commit more to the bridge than you can afford to have illiquid (if you use a SPIA) or bond-locked (if you use a ladder). A reasonable target: after funding the bridge, you still have 6–12 months of emergency cash and enough remaining IRA/brokerage to weather a bad market year without touching Social Security. If you can't hit that reserve after building the bridge, either shorten the bridge or claim earlier.
Stacking Roth Conversions On Top
The most overlooked add-on: if you have outside taxable cash to pay conversion taxes, the same 5- or 8-year window that hosts your stop gap is the prime Roth conversion window of your entire life. Low bracket (no wages, no Social Security, no RMDs), and your IRA is shrinking as the bridge draws from it.
The playbook: use IRA money to fund the bridge, use outside cash to pay tax on Roth conversions, fill the 12% or 22% bracket every year of the bridge. Six-figure lifetime tax savings are realistic for many households with moderate IRA balances.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a stop gap different from just spending down my IRA?
Structurally, it isn't. "Stop gap" is a name for using IRA dollars in a disciplined, defined-term way to fund income until Social Security starts. The SPIA version enforces the discipline with a contract.
What if the market crashes during the stop gap?
If you funded it with a SPIA, market movement is irrelevant — the insurer owes you the fixed payments. If you funded it with a Treasury or CD ladder, you'll hold to maturity and get par back. Both survive a market drop better than an equity-based bucket.
Can I stop gap partway to Social Security — say from 65 to 67?
Yes. Any defined bridge is fine. But the biggest gains come from delaying all the way to 70 — each year past FRA adds ~8% to the check for life.
Do I need a financial advisor to set this up?
You need someone comfortable with both annuities and fixed income. Many advisors sell one or the other and pitch you toward their side. Ask for the SPIA quote and the ladder quote in the same conversation, and pick the honest cheaper one.
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