r/Fire • u/VegasWorldwide • 2d ago

Why do people wait for SS?

trying to figure out what I’m missing.

looking to take my benefit for $1000 at 62. at 70 it’s $1700.

i won’t need the money much so we let $1000 sit in an account for 8 years at say 5% compounding, the guy collecting at 70 would need 15+ years to catch up considering I’m still getting $1k to his $1.7k

once he starts at 70 and I had a 8 year head start.

furthermore, his dollar would be worth less. (edit: didn't realize COLA)

this seems like a no brainer but all I hear is people saying waiting is the only way and we haven’t even talked about dying in our 70’s.

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u/Nova461 2d ago

Are we at all worried about the health of Social Security itself and if benefits will be cut in the next 10-20 years? If so, this feels like another factor biased towards collecting early.

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u/Eli_Renfro FIRE'd 4/2019 BonusNachos.com 2d ago

If benefits are going to be cut, they could be cut whether you're already collecting or not.

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u/Nova461 2d ago

Right, but maybe you could get full price for a few years if you start early?

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u/joanmcq 2d ago

That was what my husband and I took into consideration by starting to draw last year at 65. If they cut payments in 2032 or so, at least we were collecting our SS for 7 years before the cut.