If one feels the need to work because he or she enjoys the interaction with others on the job, and can still do the job well, then working to the normal retirement age may be the thing to do.
However, if one would like to retire earlier, but feels that losing the extra few hundred or less a month might not be worth starting early then think again.
For if one does take it early, you don’t really lose a great deal, because all along you would have been getting a check that if you add it up, it would only amount to a little less than the overall gain you would have made if you took it later.
An example would be if you would have made $900.00 instead of $1100.00 by retiring early, you would have made $27,000.00 for the three years, and if you add that to the $800.00 that you would make for the rest of your life, you’d find that the $27,000.00 you made up front would more than compensate for the $200.00 difference per month for a number of years past 65 years of age. Plus you still get the increase for the cost of living.
You never know what might happen in the years leading up to the age 65, whereas you might develop an illness that might prevent you from enjoying your retirement should you wait till that age. If you take it early, and are still in good health, you might find that enjoying an early retirement may have been the best decision you could have made.
However, you must have that kind of mind set, in that you “prefer” not working as opposed to keeping active in the work force. Not everyone likes retirement. Many enjoy the workforce, and want to continue working past 65. The interaction with those you have worked with for so many years can be sadly missed should you leave the job. It’s like you have a second family outside the home.
Spending more time with family, and being able to visit, travel, or just do what you want, when you want, is a pretty good way to live out the rest of your years, and only by retiring early, you have that opportunity, and while your health is still good. So if your young enough at 62 to enjoy the benefits of being free and easy, then it’s a good choice to make, because unless you are a single person retiring at that age, you also have the income of your spouses Social Security income as well, and the combined incomes will should provide for a nice easy retirement.