(That theory is predicated on the notion that Social Security will still be around in a few years. Or that I will be. In order for things to go smoothly for me down that road, both need to happen. My crystal ball needs cleaning, 'cause I can't see that answer in it.)
After due consideration, I decided to go ahead and start drawing the stipend now. Lord knows I paid enough into the system for forty-odd years that I'm happy to get a little of it back, and while I have to be careful how much income I earn for the next year and a half–after sixty-five, all bets are off–I'm figuring that carpe pension might be the better way to go.
If I live to be ninety, I might wish I'd waited for the larger check, but in the meantime, three-quarters of a loaf would seem to be better than none. If you suspect the bank is gonna run out of money, it seems, I dunno, prudent to withdraw yours before it's all gone, doesn't it?
Of course, that assumes that the United States Congress doesn't shut the country down and stop paying SS because it is playing chicken and refusing to fund governmental operations, waiting to see who blinks first. Last time the R's shut the government down, it turned around and bit them on the ass pretty good, helping Bill Clinton to four more years. Might be too much to hope that they'd be that stupid again ...