Taking social security early, at age 62

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i_am_Lois

Member
I will be 62 in a few months. I'm still not decided about taking the social security early at that age (and get a reduced amount) or if I should wait till I'm eligible for the full amount. I'm not in dire straits but I'd be lying if I said the extra money wouldn't come in handy now. I've had a heart attack, had a pre cancer and several other health issues. Longevity is not something that runs in my family. Both parents are deceased and I... who was the oldest of the 4 children they had, am the only one still living. I am leaning towards taking it early.

What have you decided about your social security benefits, and why?
 

Lois, I decided way back then to take the early date and get some income arriving. I then, after 6 months or so, went out and found a different job for about 3 or so more years. Than when I decided I had enough full time jobs I went part time for entirely new jobs. I also did voluntary jobs to help fill my time jar. I still owed money on the house we raised my family in so much of my newer jobs went to pay that off. Eventually we sold at a good price and moved way across the state to a small town. This is where I took those part time jobs and did voluntary work to get to know folks and to keep my hand busy rather than laying around wondering what to do.

wToday I am about to turn 81, on July 4th. I have had some scary times as well and watched my wife, now about to be 82, go through some scary times too. I have had prostate cancer, a brain tumor that was removed surgically and then found not to be cancerous. But it was big enough to cause me to become unconscious one Sunday and the wife drove me to the hospital then after some tests the ambulance drove me to another larger town an hour and a half away. I survived the surgery and the after care classes. My wife has also had her share of cancers and after 20 years she is still going along just fine.

I think taking it early is just fine for me and my wife and several friends that also took the payments early. We paid plenty over our working life, so did our employers. Why not get the benefits of the funds saved before the end of life. Any of our inputs not taken come from left overs from those that did not live long enough to collect or shortly after signing up.

I felt no guilt having done my period of waiting after signing on and then going back to work again full time and part time. I was able to build up a decent bank account and now live on our retirement checks and seldom need to dig into our bank accounts for necessities. Our bank accounts help us to buy necessary things like a newer car to replace the older one starting to cost us repair moneys. Never buy a new car, just 2 or 3 year old versions.
 

Hi Lois,

We have a lot in common. I pretty much decided if I am not making a "living" wage, well, I won't have a choice not to draw mine. If I am making the amount, or up to the amount, I am allowed to make, and still draw my SS, I will draw it come December when I turn 62. Mine won't be enough for me to live on, other than low-income housing etc. so I will supplement it best I can, and do expect to be working. Just a one, income family here, but just one-person bills too;)

I think my main thought on it, is quality of life for me, if it helps with that, which it would, then I'm taking it asap. The other thing is with the world looking the way it does, health issues etc., why wait, and possibly loose out on something I've earned.

edited, I just wanted to ad that everyone knows that I am not the "all knowing" about the "system" but what I do see, is that the SS fund is being messed with, and I don't like that. It's the last fund that should ever be touched/dipped into by the government. I mean maybe there is a more important fund I am not seeing at this moment, but Americans have payed into this, as BobF mentions, plus the employers put in their part. I guess I am frightened a bit, who can't see that, but I don't want to see that money taken away from those Americans, including me.
 
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Yes..that is scarey too, knowing SS is being "messed with". Which is why I am taking mine. I need the extra money to survive because disability has denied me too many times even though MY doctors said I cannot work, THEIR doctors insist I can. So...in a few months, I will get what I paid in to before it disappears.
 
What I wonder is where those dollars are going instead of SS fund for people that have earned it, payed into it? How do those things disappear without us having anything to say about it. I suppose people vote for who they think will fight for those things, but things get changed without the "voice" of the people. Surely anyone who has earned a living, payed into SS would never vote that it's ok for the gov to snatch those funds for other things. I don't know, like I said, I am not "up on" all the things that go on and that's my fault for not paying attention. Even if I did, how much good does it do people that do pay attention and do make intelligent choices on whos going to hold office or what bills get passed or don't.
 
When my heart went bad, my doctor said I should file for disability SS, and they would give it to me right away, since the a-fib and CHF were only going to get progressively worse as I got older. However, SS disability denied my claim, and for the next several years, I was doing the re-applying and appeal routine; all the while going without the medicine that I needed for my heart, since I had no medical insurance, and no income to get any, either.
Eventually, I was about to turn 62, and the SS advisor who was helping me said it was smarter to just file for the SS pension, rather than to continue to fight for the disability. So, I did that. I still didn't have any medical coverage, but there was a low-income clinic that helped me so I could at least get the heart meds, until I turned 65 and could get Medicare.
I am glad that I took mine early, and would have started even sooner if I could have gotten the disability instead.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
When my heart went bad, my doctor said I should file for disability SS, and they would give it to me right away, since the a-fib and CHF were only going to get progressively worse as I got older. However, SS disability denied my claim, and for the next several years, I was doing the re-applying and appeal routine; all the while going without the medicine that I needed for my heart, since I had no medical insurance, and no income to get any, either.
Eventually, I was about to turn 62, and the SS advisor who was helping me said it was smarter to just file for the SS pension, rather than to continue to fight for the disability. So, I did that. I still didn't have any medical coverage, but there was a low-income clinic that helped me so I could at least get the heart meds, until I turned 65 and could get Medicare.
I am glad that I took mine early, and would have started even sooner if I could have gotten the disability instead.
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Hi Happy,

I had to go since 97 without insurance, and 2, uninsured surgeries. I can relate in that respect. I wasn't working a job that paid any health insurance. I was never disabled, and still am not, fortunately, but if I were, I would have tried to get disability, that would have given me more of my SS than the pension at 62. But alas, that is history now, and just hoping for a better future;) Glad you are set now with insurance. You are a survivor!! We have to be don't we, in many ways;)
 
Happyflowerlady said:
When my heart went bad, my doctor said I should file for disability SS, and they would give it to me right away, since the a-fib and CHF were only going to get progressively worse as I got older. However, SS disability denied my claim, and for the next several years, I was doing the re-applying and appeal routine; all the while going without the medicine that I needed for my heart, since I had no medical insurance, and no income to get any, either.
Eventually, I was about to turn 62, and the SS advisor who was helping me said it was smarter to just file for the SS pension, rather than to continue to fight for the disability. So, I did that. I still didn't have any medical coverage, but there was a low-income clinic that helped me so I could at least get the heart meds, until I turned 65 and could get Medicare.
I am glad that I took mine early, and would have started even sooner if I could have gotten the disability instead.
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Yes. I experienced the same thing. They denied me 4 times. I finally gave up.
 
Yes, and what I got most out of that article is that each situation is unique, each person's. Good article and thank you SB:)
 
"Grab th' booty 'n' run", say the pirates.

Good advice.

If i make it through the next 6 years I'll be applying at the earliest moment. Like Lois my family has a history of dying off early and I'm the last survivor of the family line (beside my two sons, of course), so I'm not going to give SSA the satisfaction of keeping my money when it could be going in my pocket.

A little now is better than a lot later.
 
As said, each situation is different. I waited until full retirement age because both my social security and my company pension were a lot more plus I had nearly three more years to add to my 401k.

I now have a lot more income than I would have if I retired at 62. In my case I'm glad I waited. I would figure out what my total income would be in each situation and then decide whats best.
 
There are lots of good arguments on the net about the pros and cons of taking SS early. I'm undecided but have a couple of more years to go before reaching 62. My FA at my brokerage firm recommends waiting. He thinks of it as buying longevity insurance. But with the SS program being in poor shape, hard to argue with the 'bird in the hand' approach.

So not sure at this point. Might wait a couple of years for an additional bump. I know I don't have it in me to wait until 70.
 
I took SS at 62, and it was barely $1K at the time. DH waited until then to start collecting. After he died, the SS people explained to me how the benefits work. DH's benefit was much higher than mine and when he died, my benefit went up by the amount it took to make up the difference between what he'd been getting and what I was getting.

If I'd waited until I could get the full benefit, I'd be getting the same as I am now because it still would have been the difference between what I got and what he'd been getting. So in my particular case, it really made no difference at all.
 
Another thing...just in case there's anybody out there who's unaware...if you're divorced but were married 10 years or longer, you can get benefits based on your spouse's SS history if they were higher earners than you were. SS usually catches this but not always, so ask!!!

If your former spouse remarried, and the new partner collects on those benefits, they are not affected at all in the amount of benefits paid.
 
I am 79 and have been receiving my Social Security since age 62 and have never been sorry for doing so instead of waiting longer to get a higher benefit. As required by law I started taking RMD (Required Minimum Distribution from my IRA account at 70 1/2.
 
Well I went ahead and applied for my early (age 62) social security benefits. My husband had applied for and gotten his 2 years ago. He told me what to expect. The form he filled out requested the name of the hospital where he was born, then they followed up with a phone call where they asked him his mother's maiden name and a few other questions. I collected all that information about myself and kept it handy. The form I filled out did not ask any questions about my parents or what hospital I was born in. I never got a phone call about my mom's maiden name. My husband then became very upset thinking I had gone to a fake social security site and provided personal information plus my social security number. But he within a few days I got a letter in the mail from them saying I was eligible, my claim was processed and my checks will start coming. So the social security department must occasionally change what they feel is required information to process claims.
 
I took my SS at 62 (Early Retirement), b/c I was still unemployed and had used all of my UI benefits up. Wife and I decided that having some money come in for me was better than none coming in. My SS is now down to a little over $700 a month now due to my Medicare B monthly Premium each month. Wife wants to wait, if she can, til she turns 70 in 3 yrs./3 months. "If she can" means staying healthy and on the job! She does like working b/c it keeps her mind occupied somewhat more than being at home. Anyway, after she turns 70, we will REALLY "downsize" stuff we have.
 
ClassicRockr said:
I took my SS at 62 (Early Retirement), b/c I was still unemployed and had used all of my UI benefits up. Wife and I decided that having some money come in for me was better than none coming in. My SS is now down to a little over $700 a month now due to my Medicare B monthly Premium each month. Wife wants to wait, if she can, til she turns 70 in 3 yrs./3 months. "If she can" means staying healthy and on the job! She does like working b/c it keeps her mind occupied somewhat more than being at home. Anyway, after she turns 70, we will REALLY "downsize" stuff we have.
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Are the rules different now than when I retired several years ago. For me I could quite, start my SS at 63, then after a period of time passed, not sure but I think 6 months then, so I could go get a job and still collect my SS. So I did and was really glad as the ability to go back to work gave me something to do and the money was nice to have also. Let us see, I am 81 now and retired at 63 so I have been retired for 18 years. I have not worked for several years now but when I could I worked in manufacturing, stores like WalMart, unpaid part time in visitors centers for the state and community, part time volunteer for watching old time native American sites with cliff dwellings remaining. Some very interesting ways to spend the time and if you can make some money. Something to think about as you start your SS.
 
Taking SS at age 62 is fine if you can afford it. I hear so many people complaining though about SS being their only or main source of income and how hard it is to get by. Many of them are among those who took it early.
 
GeorgiaXplant said:
Another thing...just in case there's anybody out there who's unaware...if you're divorced but were married 10 years or longer, you can get benefits based on your spouse's SS history if they were higher earners than you were. SS usually catches this but not always, so ask!!!

If your former spouse remarried, and the new partner collects on those benefits, they are not affected at all in the amount of benefits paid.
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I took my SS at 62 and was shocked to learn that my Scottish husband who has never lived or worked or earned any money in the US was entitled to SS as my spouse because we've been married more than 10 years. The UK/US have pensions agreements, but the one where spouses of Brits living in the US were entitled to a UK pension was stopped a year or so ago. The UK reported my UK pension to SS so I get about $50 less per month because of that.

I only worked in the US for 17 years and never at a high paying job. So our SS payments aren't huge but enough to make a big dent in the expenses of traveling. I also get a small university pension from one I worked at in TN and got that one at age 60.

I also get a UK pension at 62 because I worked here for 7 years and also get more based on my husband getting a full pension.

Our living expenses are covered by my husband's work pension that he's been getting since he retired at 55 - 10 years. The majority of our other pensions go for travel.

We were very pleasantly surprised to learn we were getting a lot more than we'd planned on! And we became eligible for 4 of the pensions (2 US 2 UK) at almost the same time since hubby turned 65 just a few months before I turned 62.

And, of course, with the NHS we never have medical expenses. I feel extremely fortunate to be retired here.
 

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