“Take out SS as soon as you can and invest it”
I have never consider doing that before. Good Idea.
One downside of taking SS early is the impact on married couples where one spouse makes a lot more money than the other spouse.
It is complicated, but the bottom line is that in that scenario the way to maximize benefits for the couple is for the high income spouse to wait until 70 to collect, while the lower income spouse waits until 66 (or if they are a little younger, 67).
I am less worried about social security paying out than I am about inflation (with cooked COLAs to minimize the adjustment). The primary risk is that waiting gets you paid in dollars that are worth a lot less than today’s dollars.
The other factor is life expectancy. If your family tends to live into their 90s, it makes sense to wait. But if they have tended to die in their 70s, then you probably should collect as soon as possible.