Originally Posted by ford150man
Originally Posted by Irishguy
I just perused through the whole thing and it appears that there are 3 things that the article didn't account for...

1. You're money is going to be worth more in buying power when you are 62 vs when you are 80+. If you don't need the money, then take it at 62 and invest it in EFT's and you would beat the performance of the Social Security System. Plus if you take it at 62 and it keeps you from having to draw any out of your 401k plan to live on, then you are ahead of the game there too, because your 401k is going to outperform Social Security too.

2. You can go and do and have much more fun when you are 62 vs when you are 80+, so when you're older you are not going to need to spend as much travelling, etc... When you're 62 is when you are going to want to spend and have a good time. Go-Go years, Slow-Go years and No-Go years... I retired at 62 and we have been enjoying the hell out of it.

3. There is more than likely going to be a reduction in benefits in about 10 more years. It may be a significant amount. That is going to change the paradigm of the "It's best to wait" theory.

Mrs. Irish took her's a couple of months ago at 62 and I will be taking mine at 65 in August. Mainly because that's when I elected to have my pension adjusted downwards. Both of those checks every month are going to be a nice raise for us.

The whole Social Security thing is a big gamble with the government saying, "I bet you die early." and you sayin, "I bet I don't." This is why damn near every single article written on the subject encourages you to wait until the last possible minute to take it. Kind of like everyone wanting us all to take the vaccine...

Irish gets it. I plan on waiting 6 months after I turn 62 to retire. The only reason why is because I want to work until my work anniversary, making my start and stop date on the same day, giving me exactly 28 years with my company, and 31 years in the industry. Just something I want to do.


I retired at 62. I could have taken my SS when I retired, but thankfully I didn't need to. In two years of not contributing to or taking money out of my 401k and it just sitting there, it has gained $278,615. (I would have taken my SS at 62 had I not had the high/low option with my pension, but it's the same principle.)

This goes back to my first point for folks that want to retire early, have a 401k plan and want to take their SS at 62.

By taking at 62, yes you are going to get less money overall if you make it to 80 years old, but the gains your investments make because you didn't have to touch them early WAY more than makes up for it. Plus the gains your investments make your family gets to keep if when you die, whereas all that "extra money" you make my postponing your SS, the government gets to keep when you die.

"When I say ever thing I mean ever thing." - Frankie