I took early retirement at 59 1/2 and haven't been sorry. I liked the kind of work I did but got tired o of whatyou had to put up with in an office.

I was able to do ok until my early SS kicked in and it has been great.

If I were you I'd try and get some kind of part time employment or if you like volunteer work.
Stay active in something otherwise there will be no place to wear your clothes haha. Where I lived before they had a very active Sr Center which I enjoyed but nothing here.

You can go on line to the SSA and check out the difference between retiring at 65 and 66. As I recall, the difference is pretty substantial. The Gov. makes it worth our while to wait if we can. My husband thought we should wait until he was 70 to collect, but that didn't make any sense given that I will be collecting mostly on his record and my health isn't good. I can't collect on his record until he retires, so I think we will both be waiting until age 66, but time will tell. His health is still good and he likes his job.

The difference can be substantial.
If you retire before your full retirement age of 65, your benefits will be reduced:

20% at age 62;
13 1/3% at age 63;
6 2/3% at age 64 and.....

If your full retirement age is 66, your benefits will be reduced:

25% at age 62;
20% at age 63;
13 1/3% at age 64;
6 2/3% at age 65.

You should be getting an annual statement from the SSA detailing all your options.

I retired 5 years ago at 55 and will eventually have to think about when to start drawing SS. Given the state of things and the threat of "fixing" SS - would it be better to get less for longer or would I be better off to hold out for the maximum benefit? If one knew how long they were going to live, the decision would be easier. For myself, I'm leaning toward waiting for full benefit.

Lots to consider. After stopping work, one would need to decide if the SS benefit was necessary to maintain a life style; does one need to find some alternate work for financial reasons or just to have something to do; would taking the SS early be extra cash to make some other kinds of investments.

It's such an individual decision and this is one case where one size doesn't fit all. My years after retirement were spent caregiving for my Mother, so I didn't have the time or opportunity to investigate the possibilities of a part time job or to look into any volunteering. I have the chance to do that now, but want to make sure I'm fully committed to the idea before jumping in. After 32 years of working for one company, then falling into the caregiver mode (which was infinitely harder than my career!), I'm not sure how ready I am to do much of anything.

Judy,
Maybe you should take the next couple of years to find out what you want to do during retirement. Where are your PASSIONS! What do you ENJOY doing. Don't just fill up your time. You have 2 years to try various things to see if they "fit" something you might like to continue. Put this time to good use by finding all those things that will make your retirement something to truly look forward to. MacThayer