There have been a lot of comments about SSA benefits being somewhat the same in your lifetime, no matter when you start them...so, let's go with that.
When you add in a spouse, then things are different. Unless you are in a significant accident, one of you will live longer than the other...it is just the way it is.
You will not really have more money to spend each month if you take SSA early. You will always have your SSA amount + pensions + IRA withdrawals. You can adjust your withdrawals to make your early spending more or less. What changes, however, is when you run out of IRA funds...and that will be based on how much you withdraw each year and how the market does...you control your withdrawals but not the market.
If you are still with me, and some may have dozed off already, your SSA and pensions should be relatively SAFE money. If you can live comfortably off of that, then your IRA funds are just fun money and legacy dollars. If you need those IRS funds to live comfortably, then you have a situation that requires some thought. You have to decide how much of your budget comes from SAFE money and how much comes from the MARKET. Take your SSA early, and in the later years of your life, a smaller percentage of your budget may come from SAFE money. Take your SSA later, and you are increasing your SAFE money, but you have drawn down your IRA funds. Things become real personal when doing the arithmetic at this point, because the amount of money you need to live comfortably, your IRA balance, your Asset Allocation, your SSA/pension benefit all come into play to determine your tax situation and when you will run out of money. Motley Fools cannot determine what is right for you...and you may not be able to determine what is right for you either. Take a guess at how long you will live, add a few more years just for good measure, try a few online calculators...maybe even talk to some financial advisors...then decide when SSA should start for you and your family. Your numbers and priorities are probably different than mine...
For me, I like the idea of an inflation protected, tax advantaged income that SSA offers...so I am maximizing that. I may do better or worse by having more funds in an IRA impacted by market conditions...but that bothers me, because if something bad happens, I cannot go back and change my mind. So, I am in the wait to 70 group.