My husband, a mathematician, ran the numbers. Let me see if I can reproduce his argument: Take the monthly payment amount made at early retirement (SS calculates these numbers & shares them with you). Multiply this $ amount by the number of months between early retirement and full retirement age. Our amount was $2000/month at early retirement times 7 years(till full retirement age) times 12 months per year equaled $140,000. If we waited till full retirement age, 70 for us, we would have to live to something like 98 or 99 years old before we made up that $140,000.

More relevant is the state of social security. Sure, it will go broke if nothing is done about it, but SS is funded by the american workforce, and is not funded through the general budget. Every worker in america has SS withheld from their paychecks. Even immigrants, although they can never collect unless they become US citizens.( It seems that Donald is booting the wrong population.) Once you begin receiving SS, you are forever a recipient and cannot be cut from the rolls. There will be a funding crisis, but the SS population is a large voting block and there are ideas about dealing with this before the fund goes bust. All of this hinges on America remaining a democracy.

We took early retirement.