This study builds on previous research (Kingson and Arsenault, 1999) showing great diversity of circumstances among early retirees and suggesting that narrow conceptions of risk may fall short of fully identifying the distributive consequences of retirement age changes. Using HRS data, matched to the Social Security files, we 1) examine whether circumstances - as measured by health states, functional disability, income, employment histories,health insurance coverage variables - of persons accepting Social Security retired workers benefits at ages 62-63 have changed markedly between 1994 and 2006. We: 1) compare 1994/1996 (estimated n=1500) and 2004/2006 pooled cohorts of age 62-63 beneficiaries to each other and to likeaged non-beneficiaries; 2) examine how income-related risks of age 62-63 early acceptors in the 2004/2006 cohort vary along such dimensions as race, nativity, Hispanic ethnicity,gender, reported health states, functional disability and occupational status and measures of economic and social risk developed in our first project and 3) identify economic and survival outcomes in 2006 for the 1994/1996 pooled samples, paying special attention to variations within and between the sub-sample of persons who accepted Social Security early retirement benefits by 1996 and the sub-sample of persons who did not. The findings have implications for assessing whether consideration should be given to: linking increases in the normal retirement age with liberalization of benefits in other programs, such as SSI and disability; establishing Medicare buy-ins for early retirees; and increasing the early retirement age.