There are tons of places to get an opinion, however most of them seem to me to be stuck on the math. Roughly, if you start taking your Social Security benefits at age 62, you’ll have to live to be 76 or so to break even. What you really need to do is Make An Honest Self Appraisal Of Your Health.
To do that, pretend you are advising someone else who has the same question. He is 62 years old. Smokes. Drinks. Weighs 300 pounds. Has diabetes. How likely do you think it is that the person will live to be 77? You’d probably advise him to take the money at 62, wouldn’t you? If this is your situation, you should consider taking advantage of your Social Security benefits sooner.
All the math in the world, demonstrating it’s better to wait til age 70 to take Social Security, is meaningless if your health problems are severe. If your self appraisal looks bad, take the money even if you don’t need it. You can always stick it into savings and use it later, if you do end up living longer, or leave it behind for your loved ones.
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