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Age 62 or later? I say you have to consider your (and/or your spouse’s) health, whether you like your job enough to work longer and if you can pay your health insurance between age 62 until 65 when Medicare kicks in. The bit extra $ by waiting for S.S. should be way down on your decision list.

My wife and I had government jobs at which we had worked long enough to get vested pensions and our health insurance (via my job) had post-retirement payments. We both were fed up with work so we both quit the same time, me at 62 and she too at age 58. Our life now is swell with health and grandkids to have fun with.

A friend of mine who works for Boeing saw this on the counter at a tool room. There was a chart about Boeing retirees and if you waited until sixty-five to retire the average payout was only for eighteen months meaning the retiree died a year and a half after retiring [i.e., at age 66.5 years]. If they retired at fifty-five the payout went over twenty years [i.e., at age 75 years].

That would mean that retiring ten years earlier would extend one's life expectancy by (at least) 8.5 years.

Color me skeptical!

I did a little googling, and this was my first hit:

Some evidence does at first glance appear to exist to support the first claim - that people who work longer die younger than those who retire early.

A paper attributed to the aircraft-maker Boeing shows that employees who retire at 55 live to, on average, 83. But those who retire at 65 only last, on average, another 18 months.

The "Boeing study" has been quoted by newspapers, magazines and pundits. It's circulated on the internet for years. The problem with it is that Boeing itself says it's simply not true.

Later in the same article:

People who retire early because they are seriously ill will make average life expectancy for all retirees of that age look lower.

There's another statistical trap. Some of the people who retire at 55 will die before they reach 65. But of course no-one who retires at 65 will have died before they reached that age. That also distorts the data.

Here's the hyperlink:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18952037

I'm intrigued by the fact that you say that a friend of yours who works for Boeing told you about this. I wonder if this is a case of the famed "a friend of a friend said that..."

Regards,

My dad retired from Boeing at age 62 and lived another 24 years. I retired from there at age 64 and am still alive (as far as I know) at almost 67. I started taking SS as soon as I retired, because one rarely knows how long one has to live in the long term. Could have retired without it, but it provided a very good cushion. Yes, you get increased benefits each year you delay, but would the Federal government do something that was in your best interest instead of theirs??? Methinks not.

I will take SS when I want to. It is a benefit I paid for and paid for handsomely having “contributed” the limit from the time I was 16. When I do take it I will spend every penny of it on anything I don’t need for as long as I can get it.

Every day I am more happy that I retired when I did just about a year ago now. I turned 62 this week and will wait a bit to file for SS since I am easing into retirement. The transition is not yet complete and I treat my current time as a long vacation having done a little work this last year and I may do more still if the opportunity contines. Being able to go back is different when you are self-employed I suppose. Filing for SS is a milestone I am not ready for. All things in due time. My Dad was forced out at 67 and would have worked until he was 70. He died at 76-1/2. They got a great deal on his pension. He seemed in a rush to get enjoyment done though he and Mom both loved what they did at one time it got harder.

I sat with my 90 year-old Mom today. She lives in the very near present and the very distant past. Mostly the latter in a fog of confusion. She can’t move around much or do for herself much. The days I can get up, endure the cold or heat, take care of the stock, work out doors and just goof off with my wife are numbered. I wake each morning asking God to help me not screw up and grateful for another new beginning.

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

I too was somewhat forced out of my life’s profession but now happy for it. I needed a push. My days are filled now with getting to do things I really enjoy doing and looked forward to for a long time and getting to do them right. If they never get done... so what? I will have enjoyed the journey.