Via The Motley Fool
By Christy Bieber
You can claim Social Security benefits at the age of 62 — but should you? Many people — including experts from Stanford — argue for delaying as long as possible because benefits go up the longer you wait. And there are indeed plenty of good reasons to delay. Social Security provides a guaranteed source of income for life, so waiting a little longer to maximize benefits can make sense.
But while waiting entitles you to earn delayed retirement credits, it also means you miss out on years of money you’d otherwise have received. You’ll need a higher monthly income for many years to make up for all those missed benefits and reach your breakeven point.
To decide whether it makes sense to delay, it’s helpful to know how to calculate your breakeven point and get a good idea of how long it might take for delaying benefits to pay off for you.