<p>I turn 62 next year, and my mom (83) is encouraging me to take my SSI once I do. I hadn’t really thought about it, figuring I’d wait until my DH retires and takes his, which would probably be 5 or so years from now, as his half is a lot more than mine, no matter when I take it. I’m beginning to think mom may be right. I’ve looked at the calculators, and it’s a bit more complicated than I thought. My life expectancy is not that great (I have metastatic breast cancer), but of course, no one has a crystal ball and knows how long one will live. </p>
<p>Is anyone else pondering the question at this point, and what are your thoughts?</p>
<p>I took mine at 62 1/2. Neither I nor my wife (who seven years younger than me, and makes significantly more than I did at retirement) is a good health risk. I understand the so-called financial advantages of waiting, but I can also invest the money and, over time, at least in theory, I do better than waiting, if I happen to live to 78. Meanwhile, the money is in my pocket rather than someone else’s.</p>
<p>My husband took his at 62. He was out of work at that point and needed the money anyway. He also has a lot of health problems and we figured out that we were highly likely to be better of financially in the long term by taking it earlier (I think we worked out he would have to live to his late 70s to be worse off by having taken it early). Given your health issues, i would say go for it. (assuming you are not working - I think there is some deal where they reduce your SS when you earn over a certain amount if you are under retirement age).</p>
<p>There was a long and informative thread about this subject a couple of weeks back, with lots of good links. I will see if I can find it.</p>