It depends. Break even point it around 80 years old if you wait from 62 to 70 to take it. So if you anticpate dieing before 80, take it at 62 or full retirement age.
A second factor is what you need to maintain your lifestyle. By holding off, your lifestyle in retirement will be higher. But if you have $3 or $4 million in a 401k, a few thousand a month less in social security benefits might not be anything to worry about.
The breakeven point is 80 if you spend all the money as it comes in. If one can invest the money and make 10% return per year, then there is never a breakeven point. If one can get just 5%, that delays the breakeven point to almost 90. Of course, one has to take tax considerations into account which may vary from person to person.
“It depends. Break even point it around 80 years old if you wait from 62 to 70 to take it. So if you anticpate dieing before 80, take it at 62 or full retirement age.”
That was my calculation as well, thus my retirement at 62...also driven by increasing awareness of the value of my time vs. money. In addition, I was skeptical that if I did make it to 80, I’d actually GAS about the extra income I’d get at 81 (or perhaps even be aware that I was getting it). On top of all that, I most definitely didn’t “love my job”.