I’m sure you probably know you can “retire” and start drawing your Social Security benefits when you turn 62.
And you probably also know that waiting until you’re 66 to retire will allow you to draw a bigger Social Security check every month than the one you’d receive if you retire at 62.
If you ever find yourself wondering whether you should “retire early” when you turn 62 or wait till you’re 66 to draw the full amount you’re due, here are several things to consider before making that important decision…
1 – If you decide to start drawing your Social Security at 62 you might be able to transition from a full-time job to a part-time job and still enjoy the same standard of living.
That would give you a lot more free time to enjoy the things that truly make your life worth living.
Whether you love to travel, volunteer with a favorite charity or simply relax on the nearest beach, you’ll have more time to do those things if you go from working full-time to part-time.
2 – Retiring early will give you the opportunity to start a second career that you’ll possibly enjoy more than you enjoyed the first one.
And if you choose that second career wisely you just might be able to continue working for the rest of your life (and enjoying every minute of it).
In fact, I recently wrote a post on this very topic on my tech blog. Check it out!
3 – If you decide to wait until you’re 66 to retire you’ll be missing out on four years of Social Security payments that you could be raking in each and every month.
In other words, that’s 48 retirement checks that you would never receive.
4 – I hope it doesn’t happen, but what if you end up getting hit by a bus or meeting some other untimely demise before you reach that magic age of 66?
Well, that would mean you’ll never see a single penny of all the money you’ve payed into the Social Security program throughout your working life (although your survivors probably will).
Of course everything I said above depends on your current income level.
If you’re making major bucks on your current job you’d end up taking a massive pay cut by “retiring” at 62, and the odds of you finding a part-time job that pays enough to make up the difference will likely be poor.
However, if your income level is at or below the American average, I believe you’d probably do well by taking your Social Security early and taking a part-time job to supplement that retirement income.
Besides, you only get to retire once. Why not take full advantage of it?
The purpose of this post is simply to give you some valuable info to consider before making a retirement decision, not to try to talk you into making any specific decision.
Only you are in a position to make such an important decision that will affect you and your family for the rest of your lives.
I recommend that you carefully consider all the information that’s available to you and then make the decision that you feel is best for you and your family.
In my opinion, the official Social Security Benefits Planner is a great place to start.
And now, one final note…
If you’re married, you and your spouse really need to take Social Security’s very generous spousal benefits into consideration before either of you make any kind of retirement decision.
The short video below does a great job at explaining how those Social Security spousal benefits can help you both enjoy a more comfortable retirement. Check it out!
Note: As always, you can watch the video at full screen by clicking the “square” icon that will pop up in the lower-right corner of the video after it begins playing.