14 Great Reasons to Take Social Security at 62

Social Security retirement benefits can be claimed when you're just 62. Unfortunately, if you get your benefits that early, you'll face a big benefits cut.

You won't get your standard benefit amount unless you wait until your full retirement age (which is between 66 and 67 depending on when you were born). And you'll miss out on delayed retirement credits that could be earned for each month you wait between that full retirement age and age 70.

But while your monthly check is smaller if you start getting benefits early, there are plenty of great reasons to start your checks at 62 anyway. Here are 14 of them.

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While you get bigger monthly checks by delaying the start of them, you also miss out on months or years of benefits if you wait until after the age of 62. The higher monthly benefit should make up for the income you missed out on by waiting -- eventually.

The catch is, you have to live long enough so that the extra money in your monthly check makes up for all the money you didn't get. This is called your break-even point. It can take a long time to reach it -- more than a decade in most cases.

If you pass away before you've reached your break-even point, your lifetime income from Social Security will be reduced. So unless you think your health is pretty good and there's a strong chance you'll live past that time, you're actually better off claiming at 62.

ALSO READ: One Important (but Depressing) Reason to Claim Social Security at 62

A job loss when you're in your 60s can be devastating. You may have difficulty finding a new position at your current salary level or may not want to start over somewhere new so close to the end of your career.

If you've lost your position, you may want to claim Social Security so you can stop working (if you have enough other funds to support you). Or early claiming could see you through a period of unemployment or enable you to take a job that pays less without lowering your standard of living.

Be aware, though, that if you're planning to go back to work, you could see your Social Security benefits reduced if you earn too much. But if your benefits are cut because of your earnings, you'll get that money back later as the amount of your check will be recalculated when you hit full retirement age to account for any benefits you missed out on.

When health issues limit your ability to work, you may decide to claim Social Security at 62 to enable you to retire or to make it possible to take a lower paying job that you're still able to physically do.

Before you claim Social Security retirement benefits early due to a health issue, make sure that you aren't eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance. Opting for SSDI instead could help you avoid a cut to benefits for early claiming -- but not everyone qualifies.

By the time you reach your 60s, you may have a parent or even a spouse that requires care. If you want to stop working or reduce your hours to provide that care, claiming Social Security at 62 could enable that.

In fact, leaving work to care for a loved one is one of the more popular reasons for retiring sooner than planned, according to Center for Retirement Research. Most people who have to stop working before they expected to will need the income their Social Security checks provide.

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If you're looking forward to traveling or indulging in your hobbies as a retiree, you may want to leave work sooner rather than later while you're still in good health.

Claiming Social Security at 62 could make it possible to enjoy retirement during these young healthy years by enabling you to quit your job earlier than you otherwise could. It could also give you more money when you're younger that you can spend to do all the things you've always dreamed of.

You may decide the trade-off is worth it and you're willing to accept smaller checks if they come when you can still enjoy spending the cash.

ALSO READ: How Much Does Filing Early Cut My Social Security Benefits?

When you're married, you have to think beyond your own benefits check when determining a Social Security claiming strategy.

One popular approach is to have a lower earning spouse claim benefits early to help support the family while having the higher earner delay benefits.

This would not only increase total household income later in retirement but would also maximize the amount of survivor benefits available. This could help prevent the last surviving spouse from experiencing a major decline in living standard upon becoming a widow or widower.

If you're retiring at 62 you'll need income from somewhere. If you don't claim Social Security, it's likely more of it will need to come from your retirement savings account.

This could be a problem if it means you can't maintain a safe withdrawal rate.

You definitely don't want to draw down your account too quickly and run out of cash. If you have to get money from Social Security to prevent that, you'll be a lot better off than you would if you ran through your nest egg.

The benefit of delaying Social Security is that you can avoid an early filing penalty that leads to smaller checks. The penalty adds up to around 6.7% annually for each of the first three years you're claiming ahead of full retirement age and an additional 5% for each year prior to those three.

While avoiding the penalty makes sense in many cases, you may have a plan to invest that would enable you to earn higher return than the ROI that comes from delaying your benefits claim.

Of course, the downside of this approach is that your investments may not perform as expected while you're guaranteed to get higher checks if you wait to claim Social Security. Still, if you feel pretty confident in your investment approach, you may decide this risk is worth taking.

ALSO READ: Should I Claim Social Security at 62 and Invest It?

Part of your Social Security benefits will be subject to federal tax once your countable income hits $25,000 for single filers or $32,000 for joint filers. Countable income includes half your Social Security benefits plus income from most other sources including investments.

If you expect your countable income to be higher later -- say because you'll start drawing from your investment accounts -- you may decide to claim Social Security early so you can have a few lower-income years when you get to receive your money tax-free.

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While Social Security beneficiaries receive periodic cost of living adjustments that are supposed to protect against inflation, the measure used to determine rising prices isn't a very accurate reflection of what seniors spend money on.

As a result, benefits have lost a third of their buying power since 2000. Since there's no sign on the horizon of a change to how Social Security raises are determined, this trend is likely to continue. So you may decide you want to get your benefits ASAP before their value erodes any further.

Social Security's trust fund is expected to go broke by 2035. This doesn't mean benefits will stop, but it could mean as much as a 24% cut to promised benefits if politicians don't act.

If you think a benefits cut is likely to happen, including a change to full retirement age, you may decide you want to claim as early as possible so you can get as much money as you can before a benefits reduction becomes a reality.

ALSO READ: Social Security's Trust Fund Will Run Dry in 2035 -- But That Doesn't Mean What You Think It Does

Delaying your Social Security claim is a strategy designed to help you get more benefits over your life. But the retirement benefits program is specifically designed so that shouldn't happen.

In fact, the reason for early filing penalties and delayed retirement credits is that they're supposed to ensure you get the same amount of lifetime benefits no matter how old you are when you first start getting checks. Those who claim early simply get more checks in a smaller amount while those who delay get fewer checks but larger ones.

The system used actuarial tables and determined projected lifespans, so unless you outlive yours, it should work as intended and you'll get the same lifetime benefits whether you claim at 62 or 70 or any age in between.

When you claim benefits, the decision is usually irrevocable, so claiming early would mean smaller checks for life. But that's not always the case.

In fact, you get one chance to rescind your benefits claim -- as long as you act within 12 months of making it and return all the benefits you were paid. If you take advantage of this opportunity, you could actually get an interest-free loan from Social Security.

There's a risk to this if you can't pay back the money for some reason -- you could end up with smaller benefits for life. But if you need money because you're temporarily unemployed or waiting for a pension to kick in, claiming at 62 could effectively provide a no-interest loan as long as you pay back the benefits as planned.

ALSO READ: Need Money? Here's How You Can Use Social Security as a Loan

Finally, if you simply want to retire at 62 and can't do so without Social Security benefits, you may decide you want to claim early so your dream of an early retirement can come true.

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