ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Anheuser-Busch Cos., the nation's biggest brewery, received a $46 billion buyout offer Wednesday from a Belgian brewer that might be too good to refuse.

The maker of Budweiser beer disclosed late Wednesday that InBev SA, whose brands include Beck's and Stella Artois, delivered an unsolicited all-cash bid of $65 a share. It's unclear whether senior Anheuser-Busch executives think the deal makes sense, but shareholders may be drawn to the offer that represents a sizable premium over the company's closing price of $58.35 Wednesday.

"Anheuser-Busch said that its board of directors will evaluate the proposal carefully and in the context of all relevant factors, including Anheuser-Busch's long-term strategic plan," the company said in a statement. "The board will pursue the course of action that is in the best interests of Anheuser-Busch's stockholders."

A spokeswoman said the company would not comment beyond the statement.

Speculation has been rife in past weeks that a takeover bid was coming. The beer industry has been consolidating in recent years amid rising ingredient costs and stale demand in the United States.

Shares of the U.S. brewer surged almost 8 percent to $62.84 after hours, when the announcement was made. They had risen 2 percent in regular trading earlier in the day, when rumors of the deal were

For retirees with additional income-generating assets, finding the right time to start drawing benefits is the first step to getting the most out of Social Security

"I've earned my Social Security by working all my life and I want to receive everything that's coming to me. What's the best way to get the most money out of my 'investment' in Social Security?" That question comes up over and over again in my conversations with people about retirement planning.

People who are within, say, a decade of retiring, generally know that the longer they wait to start receiving Social Security, the bigger their monthly benefit will be. But they generally do not know how to identify that prime moment to start drawing Social Security income to get the maximum benefit over their lifetime.

Find Your Break-Even Age

Many factors enter into finding the right start-date to maximize your total lifetime benefit. They include whether you plan to earn income from work after age 62, your health status and family medical history, and the amount and type of retirement resources you and your spouse will have to live on in addition to Social Security.

The difference in the amount of benefits you actually receive over the years derives from some basic Social Security rules. First, you may start collecting payments at age 62, but for the rest of your life the only benefit increase you'll receive is the cost-of-livingadjustment (COLA). Second, the longer you wait to

Due to common pension plan requirements and Social Security rules, ages 55, 60, 62, and 65 often surface as benchmarks in retirement planning. But planning for your 70th year and beyond could also be crucial because of Social Security and tax rules that change when you reach age 70 and 70 1/2.

Social Security presents the more straightforward issue: Although you can start receiving your benefit when you turn 62, the underlying formula will raise your benefit slightly each year -- until you reach 70. Here's a very simple hypothetical example of the difference that waiting could make. You were born Jan. 1, 1960, and your current salary is $150,000. According to the calculator on the Social Security Web site, your benefit at age 62 would be $1,680 per month in current dollars. At your full retirement age of 67, the benefit would be $2,425 per month, and at 70, you would receive $2,992. Once you are 70, the amount would rise with annual cost-of-living adjustments, but there would be no other financial advantage to delaying.

When Can You Withdraw Money?

My previous column, "Timing Your Social Security Benefits", lays out factors other than your age -- such as your other potential income sources -- to consider before choosing the date to start your benefit.

The second rule relates to withdrawing money from your retirement accounts. In general, you can remove money from a 401(k) or traditional IRA starting at age 59 1/2, without incurring a 10% penalty. (See IRS Publication 590 for a list of exceptions and for details on all IRA rules.) After this age, you can start