I will be 62 in February and I am not waiting until I'm 67.

It will be enough to cover my house bills and give me a little walking around money too.

I have enough money saved for retirement and I'm not relying on SS for survival. I retired a couple years ago.

I figured I might as well take while it's still there to be had.

Congratulations!
When to collect SS is a highly personal decision and should be analyzed carefully. We just had a meeting today with our advisor and will be waiting until we turn 70 which isn’t but a few months away for me.

Yes, congrats! I took mine early too...64 1/2 and appreciate the fourth Wednesday of every month!

Welcome to the club. I took mine asap as well. For us it was just a cash flow thing as I didn't want to start tapping 401K/IRA's. Just about to start year six and I think we are going to start taking a salary from the nest egg.
Loving it. Motorcycle season is starting to wind down a bit but ski season in on in 5 days.

Congratulations on getting some of your money back from the government!

There are a lot of good reasons to take it early, especially if you aren't still working for a paycheck.

CONGRATS!

I took mine at my full retirement age of 66.5. I retired at 66 but just before I turned 67 my former employee made me an offer I could not refuse, and I'm working from home. The SS amount difference for me between 62 and 66.5 was almost double per month, and I didn't want to stop working anyway. Another factor for me is I'm on the last year of putting a kid through college and it helped to keep working to pay for that- no loans, free ride on dad and no debt when she graduates. I also come from long living ancestry and am in pretty much perfect health at 68 so my life expectancy is high. No issues, no medications. When I was 62 it just made more sense to keep working until full retirement age.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P220forever,

I took mine at 62 cause there is no guarantee I was going to live until 67 or longer.

Those who have applied, how long does it take before you receive your first check?

I took mine at 62 to let investments grow and reduce the hassle and tax hit from taking invested funds. YMMV.

My wife just applied and will start collecting this January. As I recall the approval period was less than 60 days. I will apply in January to start benefits in April, 66 and 10 months

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Those who have applied, how long does it take before you receive your first check?

It took a couple months for me.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Those who have applied, how long does it take before you receive your first check?

From what I’m told, it takes about 4 months from when you applied.

Since I’m not 62 yet, I couldn’t apply until 3 months before I turn 62.

We will see come March…

Congratulations. I am 52, but plan to retire at 62 and also plan to start receiving SS at 62.

I’m the opposite of P220forever. Dad and his brother didn’t make it to 50. I had mandatory retirement at 57 - no decision to make there. I pulled the brass ring on SS at 63 - no regrets. Taking a few meds, but hope to be looking down at the grass for a several more years. I will enjoy the money now more than I would in my 80s or 90s - if I make it that far.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Those who have applied, how long does it take before you receive your first check?

At the time I retired the processing time for a clean retirement claim was about 5 days. By "clean" I mean no scrambled earnings or other issues. The vast majority of retirement claims are clean.

I retired well over 10 years ago. We were short staffed then. Current staffing at SSA is the lowest it has been in over 50 years, so I strongly suspect that the average processing time has gone up. Perhaps some recent retirees will comment and can provide a better estimate.
I would caution one thing. If you check around on the internet and find sites that focus on SSA issues, you may see horror stories about 6 and 9 month processing times. That refers to Disability claims which can often have very long processing times. That doesn't happen with retirement claims.

Congrats. 6 more years and I will start getting back a small portion of what I have paid in…

My wife applied Oct. 2 and got acceptance on Oct. 15.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Those who have applied, how long does it take before you receive your first check?

FED is an authority, but I'll add it may vary by when or by regional office. Distinctly recall my call (by previous appt) where the agent told me it would be about 2+ months, and why, and also gave the estimated amount. Must be several factors involved as well. So remember to ask about your particular application at conclusion of the appt.

quote:

Originally posted by preten2b:

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Those who have applied, how long does it take before you receive your first check?

FED is an authority, but I'll add it may vary by when or by regional office. Distinctly recall my call (by previous appt) where the agent told me it would be about 2+ months, and why, and also gave the estimated amount. Must be several factors involved as well. So remember to ask about your particular application at conclusion of the appt.

I did it online and it told me exactly how much I would receive.

It laid it out year by year what I would receive from SS if I waited.

If the Good Lord allows me to live long enough to start accepting it, I will do so at 62. We are never guaranteed tomorrow.