[Dalewyn]

Objectively, my mom was right to wait and in fact it can be argued she should have waited to 70. We run a small family business, so she had steady income right up until her deathbed. She didn't need that Social Security income.

But financial theory blew straight out the fucking window when I was going through her affairs.

One of the things I found from deep in her office was a notebook, in it were numbers figuring how much Social Security she would get if she took at <X> age all the way from age 62 to 70. She also extrapolated all the way to at least age 80; it was clear she intended on enjoying a long (semi-)retirement.

I also remembered at that point how mom approached us once when she was approaching 62 (and obviously in good health then) asking if she should wait or take Social Security ASAP. All of us (myself, my sister, my dad/her husband) all told her to take it ASAP; she ended up meeting halfway waiting to 65, but in hindsight we were clearly right to tell her to take ASAP.

Seeing that notebook and remembering that conversation still pains me greatly, because it's a whole lot of "could have" that got violently taken away from her due to literally sheer dumb bad luck. I absolutely refuse to repeat this if I can help it, so I'm taking Social Security ASAP at age 62.