Whenever Clark talks about SS distributions, he always seems to focus on the monetary aspect only. But there are other factors that should be considered with the primary ones being a persons life expectancy based on family history AND as we age, we are less capable of doing things at age 70 vs age 62 even if we live to be 100. Therefore, the life expectancy should be considered especially if family history indicates an average age of passing in the 70’s as opposed to living longer (I am a FIRM believer that genetics are the number on factor dictating how long we live, barring any non-health related causes). So someone who “genetically” has a shorter life span should take SS ASAP to get the most “living” out of their remaining years as possible. ALSO, even if you have a family history of good genes and they live into their 90s or beyond, physical and/or mental health issues will most likely come in to play which may prevent someone from “living to the fullest” if they wait until they are 70 to start using SS towards life experiences.
If you know when you will die, the decision on when to take Social Security is easy…
Exactly my point. Even if your expected longevity is into the 90s, and you decide to wait until 70 to start getting SS but then die in a car accident or other non-health related issue (or even a health-related issue) at 69, you miss out on the funds you could have been using to enhance your lifestyle and provide more opportunities for “living” the good life. The longer you wait, the more chances that something could happen and thus miss out on the potential opportunities you could have experienced. My personal opinion is to start getting SS no later than 65 based on the aforementioned reasons.
I know Clark strongly advises to wait till 70. If I did that I know I would die at 69.9. I decided to start at 62, 7 years ago, for piece of mind. Clark says the males in his family don’t live to a ripe old age but he still waited to 70! That doesn’t make sense to me. To each his own.
Did you know that 12.5% of America will become disabled from work for five years or longer between the ages of 35 and 65? Both my wife and myself fell within the higher ages in our 50s but the impact on our emotional and financial lives would not have been resolved with even the best of high school algebra formulas. We had no choices but take SSDI and drain the little 401k or tiny pensions from the past.