10 Bad Reasons to Take Social Security at 62
You work hard your entire life, so you want to have something to look forward to. For most, social security is seen as the light at the end of the rainbow. After all of those years of work, it is nice to receive a monthly income that you never have to worry about. Those checks just keep coming in month after month, providing you with what you hope is at least enough money to support your basic living expenses. While you understand that you will still want to have other retirement options saved up in order to live the comfortable life that you desire in retirement, social security is at least the protective blanket that you desire.
When Should You Take Social Security
The question becomes when you should actually begin taking your social security. The earliest possible age that you can do so is currently set at 62. While it might be tempting to go ahead and start receiving those monthly checks at the time, you will want to be careful when doing so. There are many advantages associated with waiting until 67 years of age, and even more if you wait until you turn 70. These must be weighed carefully when determining when to start taking social security. Here are ten bad reasons to take social security at 62.
1. Doing so reduces your monthly benefit
It is important to realize that agreeing to start taking Social Security at the age of 62 will mean that your monthly benefits are reduced accordingly. This could be quite a hit. If you wait until you are 67, you will get substantially more every month. Wait until 70 and the payments will increase even more. You cannot reveries your decision, so make sure that you know what you are getting into before you decide.
2. Social security may be your only benefit later on in life
While you might have additional monthly income to draw on early in your retirement, those sources may eventually dry up. That often leaves just your social security payments later on in on life. As such, you will want to make sure that you are getting as much as possible in order to compensate for other loss of income.
3. If you work a bit longer, your monthly benefit will increase
Typically, you will no longer be working once you start taking social security. While there are some exceptions of course, 62 is quite young for many people to stop working altogether. If you continue working a bit longer, you will find out that your monthly income will increase when you finally do start receiving your monthly social security payments.
4. Cost of living allowances do not sufficiently increase your income
You might have heard that there is almost always an annual cost of living increase associated with social security payments. That might be enough for you to think that you can start taking payments at 62 and still enjoy the increase. While that might be true, you will enjoy an even bigger increase to your monthly income if you wait until later in life to start receiving those payments. It really is simple math, but it will amount to be savings down the road.
5. You might cost your spouse retirement money
If you are married, you will want to consider your spouse in this equation as well. If you start taking payments at 62 years of age, you will reduce the amount of survior’s benefits that your spouse receives in the event that you pass away before they do. This could be quite a loss of income for your loved one, so this is definitely something that you will want to consider.
6. Your taxes may increase
There are tax implications that you will want to consider when taking retirement early. You will need to start paying taxes on the social security income. By delaying the benefit payments, you will not be paying those taxes and your income will essentially be deferred tax free. This is yet another area that you will save over the long run.
7. Don’t stop working if you enjoy your job
There really is no reason to stop working if your love your job. Continue doing it, saving money, and increasing your eventual social security payment. Keep in mind that you will want to start taking your social security by age 70, as delaying any past that will bring you no added benefit.
8. You are likely to live longer
With medical breakthroughs, people are living much longer today than they were before. This means that you need to plan on sticking around into your late 80s, and possibly beyond. Because of that, forgoing a bit of monthly income now at the age of 62 will pay you many dividends when you are older and depending on that benefit payment to arrive every month.
9. The program is not going anywhere
You might have jumped on the bandwagon that believes the social security program will eventually disappear. While there are certainly some issues that need to be resolved, this is no time to panic. If you are considering taking your payments at age 62 just in case the program disappears, think again. It is not going anywhere.
10. Put more money in your pocket
The bottom line is that it is a bad idea to take social security at age 62. You will put more money in your pocket by waiting. A few years will go by rather quickly, after which time you can rest easy in the knowledge that you are going to get a maximum return on your hard work.
These ten reasons should cause you to pause before deciding to take Social Security as soon as you turn 62 years of age. To be fair, there may a few situations where it is advisable to do so, but the vast majority of people do not fall into that category. Wait until you are a bit older and you will enjoy a more substantial monthly income for the rest of your life.
