Here's why I'm taking Social Security at 62

JUN 19, 2026 Why I Am Taking Social Security at 62 Here's why I'm taking Social Security at 62 and why the take it at 70 crowd might wanna pay attention. I'm Tyler. I'm a former financial advisor and portfolio manager. And now I make financial content for free so you don't have to pay for it. Number one, I went to s.sa.gov this morning, created an account, pulled my numbers, and if I take it at 62, I get roughly $2400 a month. If I wait until 70, nearly $3600 bucks a month. Waiting gets me 50% more per check. And that sounds smart until you do the rest of the math. Number two. So I calculated my break even age. That's the point where the bigger checks at 70 finally overtake the extra eight years of smaller checks By starting at 62, my break even age is 80 years old. No. 3. So then I googled when I was gonna die. Obviously. actuarial tables say 82 based on my health and family history. So I'd wait eight years, miss out on $230,000 in payments, and come out ahead for roughly the last two years of my life. Number four. So I'm taking it at 62. I've spent 40 years delaying gratification, and the reward is supposed to be apparently more delaying of gratification. At some point you have to eat the marshmallow, and I'd rather have it now while I can still chew it with my actual teeth. If any of this is helpful sign up for my free weekly newsletter by clicking the link in my bio, and each week I'll send you over another money playbook that actually works.