What readers say about taking Social Security at 62

When to start taking Social Security is a hot-button topic, to put it mildly.

My recent column about why so many Americans leave Social Security money on the table resonated with readers.

More than a thousand of you weighed in about what you did or plan to do.

The size of your Social Security check depends on your work history, lifetime earnings, retirement age, and the year you start claiming benefits.

You can begin receiving your Social Security benefit as early as age 62, but doing so reduces the dollar amount by as much as 30% from what it would have been at your full retirement age (FRA). For anyone born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67.

If you push back benefits from your full retirement age until age 70, you earn delayed retirement credits. Those come to roughly an 8% increase for each year until you hit 70, when the credits stop accruing.

More than a quarter of Social Security beneficiaries begin claiming benefits at age 62, as soon as they're eligible, and only a small percentage wait until they hit 70, often because they are still on the job and don't need the money to live on.

Social Security monthly payments account for at least half the income of close to 24 million older adults. The average monthly benefit is around $2,000 a month, or about $25,000 a year. For roughly 12% of men and 15% of women 65 or older, nearly all their living expenses, including housing costs, are paid from their Social Security.

Most financial advisers and retirement experts agree that for lots of folks, delaying their benefit until age 70, if they can afford to, will deliver a larger monthly check for the rest of their lives.

Let's agree on one thing — there is no single right age for claiming Social Security.

Based on the comments I received, most people want the money right now to enjoy it or invest it. They worry they won't live long enough to receive the bigger checks if they delay.

The following is an edited sample of those comments — and my take on them. Feel free to weigh in, of course, in the comments section at the end.

Assuming a 7% return on the additional money, my break even point is at age 86 if starting my SSA at 62. I don't feel like I am leaving money on the table. Completely the opposite. The money left on the table would be if I should perish before I even see any money.

My break-even age at which waiting would be the smarter choice is 79, which is about the current average life expectancy in the US. Even if you are blessed and live the average additional 20 years for a 62-year old, why roll the dice? Also, you will never enjoy the money more than you will at 62, 63, 64, etc.