She’s About To Turn 62 And Wonders If Claiming Social Security That Early Is A Mistake. ‘My 3 Other Sisters Didn’t Even Make It To 70’
A woman approaching her 62nd birthday posed a question many Americans quietly wrestle with as retirement nears: Is claiming Social Security as soon as you’re eligible really a mistake?
She’s tired of working and weighing a choice she never expected to face this way. Her husband is 67 and does not have enough work credits to qualify on his own, meaning he can only collect spousal benefits after she files. She had always planned to wait until 70 to maximize her monthly check. But life, as she wrote on Reddit’s r/FinancialPlanning recently, has a way of changing the math. “My 3 other sisters didn’t even make it to 70,” said.
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The responses poured in, and they were far less theoretical than the usual retirement advice. Many people skipped spreadsheets altogether and went straight to lived experience.
“My dad had health issues and decided to retire at 62 and started collecting then,” one commenter shared their dad’s story. “Everyone told him to wait until he was 67. He died a week before he turned 67.”
Another wrote about both parents waiting and losing everything they waited for. “My mom retired at 65 and was a thin, fit, vibrant and healthy person,” they said. “She wasn’t planning to take it until 70 because she was gonna live to be 90.” She was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer at 66 and died four months later after taking Social Security for only three months. Their dad waited for their 68th birthday and died two weeks before it. He never took a penny.
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Stories like these were everywhere in the thread, and they shaped the tone. For many, the idea of delaying benefits started to feel less like smart planning and more like a gamble.
Several commenters pointed out that the so-called break-even age, when waiting pays off, is often much later than people expect. One said their math showed the lines crossing around age 77. Another said the early 80s. That raised a simple question, “Would you prefer the majority of that money in your 60s or in your 70s?” one person asked.
Quality Of Life
A recurring theme was quality of life. As one commenter put it, “For many people, a dollar at age 62 is simply worth more than a dollar at age 80.” The idea wasn’t about squeezing out every last dollar, but about having money when you can still use it.
Others focused on the impact on retirement savings. Taking Social Security earlier can reduce how much you need to pull from IRAs and 401Ks, allowing those accounts to keep growing. One couple said their Social Security checks fully covered expenses, letting their investments grow faster than the 8% annual increase people often cite for delaying benefits.
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In this woman’s case, the spousal benefit mattered just as much as the math. Multiple commenters said that her husband’s benefit would not increase if she waited. Delaying only helps one side of the household, while claiming early brings money in immediately for both.
“The fact that your husband is 67 and will be collecting a spousal benefit swings the pendulum to collecting now,” one response said.
For people in similar situations, several commenters suggested stress-testing the decision with professional help. WiserAdvisor is useful for higher-income households trying to think through trade-offs. It offers a free matching tool that connects you with vetted financial advisors based on your situation, with no obligation to hire.
In the end, the thread didn’t produce a single right answer. Instead, it surfaced something more honest. Social Security decisions aren’t just about percentages and projections. They’re about health, family history, spouses, and how people want to spend the years they’re certain they still have.
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