Barron's had an article titled 4 Ways To Maximize Your Social Security Benefits. The article is fine, it lists making sure you have 35 years where you had income, the positive effect of working in your 60's and then a bit on when to collect. Included was some very minute details about the program that probably are not essential but could come in handy.
Included was the author's bias toward waiting until 70 or as long as you can, before collecting. When I write about this, I try to be consistent in saying there's no wrong answer for when to start taking Social Security and that I prefer to wait until 70 so that if I die young, my wife who is six years younger would have the biggest possible survivor benefit.
70 is still kind of far away from here, I'm 56, but I have a sense of what the next 12-13-14 years probably look like. I love the challenge of my work and the opportunity to keep learning new things so there's no logical reason why I would walk away from that. This point will be relevant further on in this post.
More interesting than the actual article was the sentiment in the comments which mostly said to take the money as soon as possible. Some were worried about the program running into financial problems that could result in benefit cuts, means testing and/or higher taxes.
One commenter said he did an analysis and that he would only come out marginally ahead, just barely ahead by waiting so he is a fan of taking it early. And there is the idea that if you do take it late and then die early, you lose because you didn't get out anywhere near what you put it.
Again, there is no wrong answer, do whatever resonates and fits you're lifestyle. I would say though to study up on what to do, learn the positives and negatives about your preferred choice, other choices and whether what you want to do might not be so smart. It's not that you shouldn't take it early/late but you should be informed enough to avoid costly mistakes.
On the idea that there could be benefit cuts, means testing and/or higher taxes, news flash: Social Security might be in trouble, changes might happen and they may not be good changes for you. Regardless of wanting to take it early or late, start gameplanning now to mitigate the consequence of adverse changes to the program. You can say "but I paid in, it's my money" or "that's not fair" and you'd be right but it won't influence the outcome. I think it'd be political suicide but big changes could happen anyway. Start gameplanning now, repeated for emphasis.
How could you downsize your expenses? How can you make an income doing something you love (relevant to my situation) by either not retiring or taking on a post-retirement gig? Are you in a situation where you can create some sort of "passive" income? Can you monetize a hobby? What is your optionality? If your optionality isn't great today, what can you do to improve by learning new skills, getting in better physical shape or cutting spending?
Start now, don't wait until they tell us our benefit is being cut to figure out what you're going to do.
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