But how much would you have received between 62 and 70 and if you wait until 70, how long does it take to make that up ?
I didn’t run the number for 62. I just did a quick spreadsheet that assumed Full Retirement Age (FRA) of 66 (for anyone born in 1954 or earlier), with one calculation starting payments at FRA of 66, the other at age 70 after four annual 8% increases. The lines crossed in the year of age 77. As of the end of the year for age 77, retiring at 66 paid, cumulatively, 12 times the FRA amount; the total for delaying to age 70 paid, cumulatively, came to 12.8 times the FRA amount. Through age 80 the numbers were 15 and 18.92, respectively. Nothing was done to try to factor in cost of living changes.
UPDATE! I dug up the numbers for retiring at age 62, with all the same assumptions as above. At 62 the benefit is 75% of the FRA benefit. At the end of the year of age 77 it comes out EXACTLY the same as starting at FRA. Through age 80 it comes to 14.25.
The information to do your own calculations:
https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/agereduction…
Earlier in the thread there was a list of factors to consider. It is really even more complicated, as one’s entire financial situation should be considered. Personally, I have enough saved that I always planned on waiting until 70. That became an even simpler decision when my wife died, as I have been receiving survivor benefits based on her SS for four years. On my next birthday, at 70, I will change to collecting based on my own SS, which I estimate will be about double what I’ve been getting as a surviving spouse.