TY - JOUR T1 - Who takes early Social Security benefits? The economic and health characteristics of early beneficiaries. JF - Gerontologist Y1 - 1996 A1 - R.V. Burkhauser A1 - Kenneth A. Couch A1 - John W R Phillips KW - Aged KW - Eligibility Determination KW - Female KW - Health Status KW - Health Surveys KW - Humans KW - Income KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Pensions KW - Retirement KW - Social Security KW - United States AB -

Using the 1992 and 1994 Waves of the Health and Retirement Survey, we compare individuals who first take Social Security benefits at age 62 with those who don't and find that the income and net assets of these two groups are similar in the years just prior to eligibility. However, there is great diversity within the groups, so that poor health appears to be more closely related to lower economic well-being than is early Social Security acceptance status. Our results suggest that raising the Social Security retirement age is not likely to dramatically lower the economic well-being of the typical person aged 62 since only 3% of men aged 62 are receiving Social Security retirement benefits, are in poor health, and have Social Security retirement benefits as their only source of pension income.

PB - 36 VL - 36 IS - 6 N1 - RDA U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8990591?dopt=Abstract U4 - Comparative Study/Eligibility Determination/Female/Health Status/Health Surveys/Human/Income/Statistics and Numerical Data/Middle Age/Pensions/Statistics and Numerical Data/Retirement/Statistics and Numerical Data/Social Security/Economics/Statistics and Numerical Data/Support, U.S. Government--PHS/United States ER -