As married couples enter their sixties, they face an important, and difficult, decision: when to start collecting Social Security. Logically, husbands should start taking benefits early while their wives should claim higher benefits later. Because women tend to live longer than men, the presumption is that women are more likely to reach the “break-even age” -- when the total value of those higher benefits exceeds the total value of lower early-retirement benefits.

But a new study tosses that logic on its head. Married women generally are better off claiming benefits at the early-retirement age of 62, while their husbands generally should wait until 69, according to Boston College's Center for Retirement Research. The study was conducted by center director Alicia Munnell and senior research associate Mauricio Soto. 

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