I’d really like to see the figures on how many 62, 63 and 64 year old individuals die while “waiting” to collect Social Security. All the government brochures tell you that its better to wait until 65 or even 70 to collect your SS. You know why? Because they are hoping you will die before you collect and they will end up not having to pay you a dime.
As of 2010, about 4% of men and 2.5% of women alive on their 62nd birthdays will die before age 65 (at least according to the Social Security Administration’s own numbers).
Many of the non-collectors are still working. I do not, however, understand someone who’s struggling to get by, but they won’t sign up “because I get more if I wait.”
uuuurrrgh
Update: That money was placed into my account at the end of August.
Because retirement payouts sit as accounts payable on the books, which is a liability. Companies like to minimize their financial liabilities and I would take it as a sign that the company is playing around with their books to make the profit margin higher by reducing liabilities. That is, getting former employees to take early pension payouts. The employer doesn’t have to pay taxes on that; the employee does. And the employer doesn’t have to keep a liability running on its books for the next 30 years.
I would also be leaning toward taking the payout, paying the taxes, and invest yourself. The company may not be solvent in 20 years when you’re ready to retire.
It’s a hospital, in a state that teeters constantly on the brink of financial insolvency, so Medicaid often runs a year or more behind.
One time when I still worked there, they sent out letters to everyone who owed them money, stating that if the bill was paid in full by a certain date, they would get a 50% discount. It didn’t matter if they owed $100 or $100,000; the balance would be cut in half. IDK how many people took advantage of that, or found a way to do it. I will say that I never went without being paid; some facilities have had to issue IOUs for the above reason to avoid bouncing paychecks. 
Because I rolled it over into a 403(b), I will not have to pay taxes on it until I withdraw the money, and no penalty if I wait until I’m 59 1/2. If I simply took the cash option, I would have lost about 30% of it.
Since the time I responded at the first go around I’ve read a book on how to get the most out of Social Security. Waiting is almost always better, unless you have good reason to think you are going to die soon after 70. From 62 to 70 SS payments go up 8% a year after inflation - you’ll be hard pressed to do better than that risk free in the market. Plus, there are big advantages to waiting until 66 at least for spousal and survivor benefits, which get reduced if you start taking money after 66, but which don’t go up after that.