I never heard of this Social Security "gaming" before....I wonder who is doing it?

[SheilaT]

11. Someone who thinks you can get Medicare at age 62

is scarily ignorant.

The rules about collecting SS are sufficiently complicated to confuse a lot of people, especially the ones about taking a spousal benefit. But Medicare?

It's mind-boggling how many people take SS early. While many people really do need the money, it's hard to believe that half of all men and women are so hard up that they must take it by age 63.

The other thing most people don't understand is what is actually meant by Full Retirement Age. A lot of people seem to think it's the age at which you max out your benefits. It's not. It's the age at which you can start collecting and not have your SS dinged if you earn too much money. Which is completely unrelated to whether you might end up paying income tax on your SS, which is dependent on how much income you have in a year.

To everyone who reads this thread, find out from SS exactly what you are eligible for at what age, and try to get your hands on the book Get What's Yours