Which is why I took it at 62.
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Me, tooā¦almost. I waited for 64. I like the idea that it will already be in position when it is time for them to take out my Medicare payments at 65. DH plans to wait for 70, and he was the higher earner for most of the years. I donāt have longevity on my motherās side, so I wanted to claim early.
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The opensocialsecurity.com calculation also recommends that I take at 62 and my spouse take at 70.
However, interestingly, the retirement planner tab on Empower calculates the odds that your retirement nest egg will last based on your savings and the variables you enter. Under their formula, when we both take social security at age 70, the odds of success for our plan are 99%. But if I take social security at age 62, it drops to 96%-98% (varying according to inflation assumptions).
Edited to add: It just occurred to me that, for planning purposes, I set the retirement spending plan to last until we are both age 100. As a practical matter, that probably wonāt happen. Opensocialsecurity.com is factoring in life expectancy and I am guessing Empower is not.
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The future is uncertain, except that between AARP, and the number of vocal seniors - a lot of other govāt spending can be cut first.
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You might then decide to wait until when you are close to full SS (which may be age 67 for you - depending on the year you were born, as it has graduated up from age 65).
DH and I both didnāt wait until full SS (for us it would be 66 and 4 months). I took my smaller amount right at 65, while DH was closer to age 66. We believed it was better to draw the amounts for DH at that time rather than spend down some of our other assets in 401K.
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Iām not aware of Empower, but Open SS definitely factors in life expectancy. In fact, it mortality-adjusts the cash flows every year by sex, which is the correct finance method. (You can change the mortality table used in the calcs.)
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Thatās a good question when similar ages. I assume the estimator apps use statistical averages for life span. Iāve not researched that aspect since my spouse is 69. Our decision for me to (probably) claim at 62/soon is more straightforward.
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When the spouse dies before collecting, the survival benefit amounts are based on their FRA (full retirement age) amounts - not the increase due to the delay even if older than FRA.
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Here is a really good explanation of survivor benefits: Social Security When A Spouse Dies - A Guide To Survivor Benefits.
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I believe if a spouse dies between 67 and 70, and the surviving spouse waits until age 67 to claim their survivor benefits, then the surviving spouse receives what the deceased spouse would have received based on their age at the time of death. So the surviving spouse can get the benefit of the deceased spouse deferring past full retirement age.
Thatās one reason why the higher paid spouse is often advised to wait to collect until 70 ā it maximizes the benefit to the survivor.
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Our Prudential Retirement 401k is now under Empower administration/mgmt. For those curious on what Empower is.
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I decided to take it when I was about 67 1/2 (well past FRA) but learned that you should take it close to the end of the year (If you collect before 70), because even though the amount for the next year will go up about 8%, the amount you get when you start collecting will be what it was at the time you start collecting (it will stay fixed for that whole year, until the next year).
I just assumed it would be better to wait. Iāll have to do some calculations. Iām going to be 64 this year, my husband 62. He is the higher wage earner and will likely keep working for at least in some capacity for a good number of years.
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Calendar year? or by birth date?
Not sure what years you are posting about but SS is based on Calendar Year. If you start receiving payments in February ā January start date since payment is in arrears ā you will 12 payments in the same amount. Any increase will be effective Jan 1 of the next year, but payable in Feb of the next year.
If you start receiving payments in November (Oct start date), you will receive 3 payments of the same amount, and any increase based on inflation will be effective Jan 1, payable in Feb.
So not seeing any timing benefit to claiming earlier or later in the CY once you are FRA. Of course, every month you delay, your benefit increases slightly based on DRCs. (Itās really not flat 8% cliff per year, but a prorata % DRC each month.)
edited to add: this summary table is just that, but reading it one can have the wrong take-away since the application of DRCās is not annual.
https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/ar_drc.html
The Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs) past FRA are really .66% each month (or in SS speak, 2/3rds of 1%). In other words, for every month you delay past FRA, you earn a DRC of 2/3 of 1%.
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I think @jym626 meant that the annual COLA is based on the prior yearās payments amount. The SS benefits are graduated and the amount you receive (when taken before age 70) will increase each month you delay. So if you wait until later in the year, that yearās amount will be higher and the next year, the COLA comes from that prior year amount received.
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It depends on your birth year as to what āFRAā is. For DH and I born in 1956, FRA was 66 and 4 months. DH and I both took SS before that, me right when I turned 65, and DH at 65 and 8 months. He received whatever was calculated for that time. We are glad we took SS when we did - it worked into our financial plan.
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Correct. I was saying not to do it at the beginning of the year. As you said, the payment is the same, so you donāt see the small increase that is spread out over the year. I was hoping Iād see it each month but I was wrong.
I was over 1.5 yrs past FRA
I came on here to post this article I just ran across on Open Social Security - bluebayou beat me to it 
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Right, delaying every month past FRA increases your benefit, which is what Open SS shows. But it doesnāt much matter between early or late in the year as you will have cash in your hand for those few months. For example, if you hit your FRA in March and your payment is $1,000, you will receive 10 payments of $1k, and have $10k in your pocket, ignoring taxes (March payment is made in Aprilā¦). If the COLA is 5%, your payments for the next year increase to $1,050.
OTOH, if you wait your benefit increases .66/mo until age 70, AND you also receive any COLAās as that is applied to your FRA, so claiming in Dec is no different than claiming in the next Jan when the next COLA occurs.
Where waiting until 70 matters is for longevity insurance, i.e., one of a married couple will live until 80+.
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