3 reasons why retirees may regret having claimed social security at 62

Retirees have a choice of when to claim their Social Security retirement benefits, but for most people, 62 is the earliest age you can start them.

If you are approaching this age and are considering applying for benefits, there are a few things you should know before you act so that you don’t regret your choice. In fact, there are three reasons you might wish you didn’t start receiving your checks when you were so young.

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1.You survive your life expectancy

Social Security is designed so that you theoretically receive the same income throughout your life, whether you start receiving benefits early, claim them late, or start them on time. Early filers get more checks, but each is smaller due to early deposit penalties. Late claimants receive much larger checks, but because they don’t claim them until they are older, they get less.

But if the program is designed in such a way that it works if people are living the life expectancies predicted by actuaries, not everyone will die on time.

If you outlive your projected life expectancy and claimed Social Security at 62, each month you live beyond the time you were supposed to represent represents a month in which you are missing out on extra income. Your total lifetime benefits could end up being much lower if you receive a lot of checks beyond the point where you would have broken even for delaying benefits.

2. You cannot pay for your medical care

Medical care is extremely expensive for many retirees, with some recent estimates putting the price at $ 325,000 throughout retirement for an elderly couple with high prescription drug needs. These are personal expenses, including Medicare premiums and prescription drug costs not covered by Medicare.

Many of these significant health care costs are incurred late in retirement, when your health has started to deteriorate. Unfortunately, for many retirees, their investment account balances aren’t very healthy at this point either after years of withdrawals. If you find that your savings are insufficient and you are struggling to pay for expensive care, you may regret that you claimed your money early and reduced your Social Security checks.

After all, these benefits are guaranteed for life and protected (to some extent) against inflation. Having a bigger check when you really need the cash would help.

3. Your spouse ends up with lower survivor benefits

If you’re the top earning spouse, claiming your Social Security checks early could leave your spouse in a bind if you die first. This is because depositing at 62 would mean lower survivor benefits.

Since the death of a spouse is a major financial shock for many retirees and often leaves the elderly facing a significant decline in their quality of life, you need to consider the impact on your loved one if you produce benefits earlier than expected.

In fact, for most married couples, it is often a good idea for a low-income earner to start benefits early if someone needs them in order to provide income for the household, while the highest earner is slow to apply. benefits for as long as possible – ideally up to age 70 – to maximize survivor benefits.

Think carefully when claiming benefits so you don’t regret your choice

Once you claim your Social Security benefits early on, your income will be lower for the rest of your life, unless you cancel your claim. You don’t want to look back and wish you had waited or regretted not considering all the consequences of starting benefits at 62. You can decide to claim as soon as possible, but it is important to know the downsides before making this choice.