3 Reasons Why I Would Absolutely Claim Social Security at 62

I won’t even be eligible for Social Security for another three decades, but I already know I want to claim at age 70. This will get me my biggest paycheck possible, since delaying benefits increases your benefit slightly each month until then. Since I’m fairly healthy, I think waiting will also give me my biggest lifetime benefit. But this is not a choice I would encourage everyone to make.

Enrolling at age 62 makes good financial sense for many people, even though it can reduce their monthly checks by as much as 30%. It’s even a decision I would make for myself if any of the following three things happened.

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1. My health deteriorated

At the moment, I have no major health problems, so I expect to live at least into my mid-80s. But if I had a terminal illness, I would probably change my claim strategy and apply for Social Security as soon as I could. This would allow me to claim as many checks as possible before I die.

But it will depend on my financial situation at that time. When you claim Social Security early, you also reduce your spouse’s maximum survivor benefit. These are the monthly checks that Social Security gives to your family after you die. If I were in a good place financially, I might choose not to claim Social Security at all so my husband could get bigger checks after I was gone.

2. I couldn’t meet my bills any other way

I’ve been prioritizing retirement savings as much as possible since my early 20s, so I’m hoping to have a nest egg big enough to cover all my expenses until I’m ready to ask social security at age 70. But everything is possible.

If I found myself struggling financially in my early 60s, I would probably claim Social Security at age 62. This may reduce my lifetime benefit, but it would give me a better chance of maintaining my financial independence going forward. My checks would provide a steady source of income to supplement my personal savings, so I wouldn’t have to go it alone.

However, I would certainly consider all my other options before making this choice. If I were still able to work, I might choose to keep him in the workforce longer so I could have a steady paycheck instead of claiming Social Security early. I might also see if I can get away with just cutting the monthly expenses. But if that was impossible, I wouldn’t mind applying early for Social Security.

3. Claiming early can maximize my family’s benefits

With decades left to go in the workforce and the future of Social Security uncertain, it’s hard to know what kind of Social Security benefits my husband and I can get. We’ll both be doubly eligible: We’ve worked long enough to claim retirement benefits ourselves, and we’ll also qualify for spousal benefits on each other’s work history. But the Social Security Administration will only give us the higher of the two.

For now, I expect each of us to claim our own retirement benefits. So I think delaying Social Security until 70 will maximize our household benefits.

But if my spousal Social Security benefit ends up being much higher than my retirement benefit, I’d be tempted to claim early. My checks could provide us with a little monthly income while my husband delayed so he could receive a larger monthly benefit. Then, when he applied, the Social Security Administration would switch me over to my spousal benefit.

Since there are still many things that are uncertain, all I can do is pick a pretend age that I believe makes the most sense for me now, and adjust it if my circumstances change. I review my retirement plan at least annually, and so far, I believe I’m on track to claim at age 70. But I will never rule it out from claiming it completely. In the situations I described above, it really is the best solution.

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