From the stats I see, the percentage of people that wait till 70 to take ss is in the single digits. Almost no one does.
Many people don't really have a choice, they have to take SS early to pay for essentials. Why do I want my decision to be based on their situation. A more interesting stat would be to know the numbers for people who have enough money to easily go without SS until age 70, and who have reasonable financial knowledge (not really possible to quantify, I know).
Very few live till 90+, but we all hope we can. I don't need to be blunt, but those are the facts. If you happen to live that long for a couple of years beyond 88, then you'll be a very old person on a limited income until you ......
Well now, my income won't be quite so limited if I wait until 70 to collect SS, will it? That's precisely the point of those of us who are most likely going to wait to take SS.
As Howard Cossell would say, just telling it like it is.
Those are the facts, for most of us if we get there. Don't mean to offend anyone.
Good health to all.
P.S. And as it has been repeated on this sight and many other columns elsewhere , it's your decision. We should all think and at the same time be realistic. One thing for sure, we can do more things between 65 and 80 then between 65 and 90.
If we're talking facts, if I do
anything between 80 and 90 than I've done more things between 65 & 90 than 65 & 80. But I'm sure your point is you'll be less active in your 80s. True. But I might need more care, or want to be able to turn my heat up higher in the winter when I'm 90. If I am able to still travel, I might choose to be more comfortable in first class. I have a friend who is past 90 who is doing exactly that.
And by the way, knowing I can rely on more SS after 70 means I can spend more of my nest egg from 62-70. It can all balance out, if you plan it.
If I die before the breakeven point, if I even have time for regret, it won't be that I didn't best use SS, it'll be that I died. But if I live beyond the breakeven point, I might be regretting every day that I grabbed SS early and am getting a smaller deposit every month than if I'd have waited until 70.
The only question in my mind is whether I could better invest the money I'll keep between 62-70 if I take SS early. As a few others have said, if the market is down when I hit 62, I'm more likely to go for early SS.
Don't mean to offend, but your facts are pretty incomplete.