When should you take Social Security benefits?
Q. I am considering taking Social Security now, at age 63. Yes, I know all sorts of reasons to wait, like the annual increase of 8 percent in benefits. But there are some other reasons that I am thinking of that tip the balance the other way. My income is quite low now, so I need cash from somewhere–either my savings/investments or Social Security. If I use my savings, then that fund depletes and it would not be there for anyone to inherit when I’m gone. But no one will receive any of my Social Security benefits when I’m dead, so if I don’t take my benefits, and I die sooner rather than later, they remain untapped and disappear.
— Looking for strategies
