H and I both retired with state pensions last year @ 60 and 61. We are living a thrifty but so far doable lifestyle on our pensions. I (lower earner) plan to take SS when I turn 62 later this year. We are driving cars that are 14 and 13 yrs old / 150,000 and 200,000 miles. We’ll use the ss to pay for newer used cars over the next 4-5 years. H (higher earner but my ss is still more than 1/2 his) will wait as long as we can. We also have modest 401k that we hope to avoid drawing from as long as possible or until required. Have almost paid off our house, but it’s also worth below average for our area. His family has longevity and mine doesn’t although we didn’t take that as much into our calculations. We used the ss calculator recommended here a while back (can’t remember the name) and it supported the plan for me to draw early and him to wait.
I know rocket scientists who don’t understand financial intricacies of retirement and social security/medicare, not to mention other financial matters 
Different people can be smart in different ways.
Just to add another variable/ something to think about….Remember if you take social security at earlier retirement age instead of 70, you may be able to invest some/all of it and make a good financial return.
sure, and you may invest it and the market tanks. OTOH, waiting is a guaranteed positive return.
My husband took his the first he could (our youngest also got payments for about a year because she was still in high school). I am not old enough to collect.
Actuarially speaking, it is supposed to shake it out to be about the same amount whether you take it earlier with a smaller amount for more years or later with a higher amount for fewer years.
Personally, we felt better taking it earlier - that was guaranteed, versus waiting and dying in the meantime (hey, it’s a possibility). Plus there is the chance of further changes in the program. We are fairly risk-averse, so we went early.
If we knew when we were going to die, the decision would be easier - not even kidding on that one, lol.
That is only true for a single, never married, in “average” health (overweight, with chronic conditions, taking 4 prescription meds…). The SS actuarial calcs do not account for spousal or survivor benefit.
Nor do they account for things like impact on RMDs, etc.
In a financially efficient market, it implies you get more by taking it early since safety cost. You can’t expect the same return for greater safety. Of course, the financial world is not necessarily efficient.
I took it at 62 and lucked out. The market jumped soon after. I wasn’t doing it for money tho. I didn’t want to deal with the paper work when I am 70. At 62, I was already getting lazy intellectually. More easily annoyed with dealing details.
Right. Lots of factors involved. Advisors can help sort through them… but nobody knows recipient death date. Or futurer rates of interest, inflation, tax. LOL - per the old saying, we do know with certainty that there will be death and tax.
Well said, but this is also referencing a bigger point. In a well planned portfolio, the purpose is safety. It is an insurance against longevity.
I agree. I was saying, in a way, soft issues may be more important factor in deciding earlier or later. If securing monthly income is more important, delay. If not, taking it early may not be bad. We are lacking the two biggest data; death date and future return rate. Not sure how valid any decision is made without them.
Depends on your assumptions: mortality x2 spouses, and discount rates.
Finance 101 says you use the best data that you have available at the time. Plenty of mortality tables to pick from to adjust your cash flows. And current interest rates for the NPV are known.
In other words, you make the best decision that you can when the time comes. Check-in at 62, and perhaps wait so run the numbers again at 65 or FRA, and if still waiting, run them again at 68/69…
Obviously, if one needs the money to live on at 62, you take it then.
Nor do they consider folks like me who are subject to the offset and windfall provisions for SS. I can’t ever collect on my husband’s SS earnings.
I’m in the same situation. Spouse is still working so won’t take it yet. We are the same age. Spouse will take it as soon as he is done working since there’s no spousal benefit to consider.
I took SS at age 62 as I explained above. My husband waited until age 70. He was working until just over a year before his 70th birthday. At that point, it made sense for him to wait the year to gain the maximum benefit.
He could have started to collect much sooner…and I thought he should. Yes, his benefit for the long term would have been less, but he was leaving about $35,000 a year (no penalty after age 66 for income earned while collecting SS). So…really over $100,000. Because he was working, we could have banked that money. But it was his choice and he elected to wait until age 70.
Depending on how long he lives, waiting might or might not have been the better decision. If he lives a long time he (and you) will be much better off with the higher benefit that also grows more than it would have each year with the COLA. It’s a gamble most of us will have to make and decide what we think is best for our situation. I hope your husband lives a long and healthy life in retirement and his choice pays dividends.
Well…he is at his 92 year old mother’s place now…so 
especially since I can’t ever collect on his SS earnings!
When he passes, Thumper will receive a higher survivor benefit if it exceeds her own benefit. (Again, the actuarial tables don’t account for married folk, one spouse of which is has good odds to make it to 90+.)
Except she won’t as she has repeatedly told us. Because of her pension provisions.
My mom has never collected a dime from my father’s social security. None. For the same reasons.
It affects a lot of teachers and state employees who did not pay into social security
Thumper will receive NO survivor SS benefit when her husband dies…because Thumper is subject to the offset and windfall provisions of SS. And can NEVER collect on her husband’s benefit amount. Not one dime. I’ll get whatever the spousal payment is…$250 or whatever. And that’s IT.