I have been going through the calculations myself for the last few days. A lot of the assertions in that linked thread are just plain wrong and the calculations are for someone whose full retirement age is 67. If you are already 60, your FRA is 66. Since you are married, the decision process is even more complicated.
I suggest you start with the pamphlets Social Security publishes that are available on their website for a basic understanding of how Social Security works. Set up mysocialsecurity accounts for you and you husband and get a current Social Security statement for each of you from the website.
The decisions about when to take Social Security and how to time it depend on who was the higher earner, your anticipated lifetimes, and sources of other income. One of the articles referenced in that thread is actually helpful to individuals, although it's directed at planners. The article is
http://www.iscebs.org/Documents/PDF/bqpublic/bq212f.pdf. It's technical but if you can get through it, a lot of the basic ideas are covered. I especially like their idea that when to take Social Security is either an investment decision or an insurance decision, depending on your financial circumstances.
A lot about Social Security from the perspective of older near retirees is discussed in various threads over at early-retirement.org. I haven't done a full search over there yet.
Here's what I have learned in the last few days. Please verify this information for yourself, as I am just starting the research.
Your yearly wages are indexed up to account for inflation through the year you turn 60. The last two years before you turn 62, nothing is indexed. The index is described below.
Your age for SSA purposes is set as the day before your birthday.
You must be eligible for an entire month for the first payment. Unless you were born on the first or second of the month, your first month of eligibility is the month after you turn 62. Technically, most people that take SS at 62 really take it at 62 years, one month.
The wage index factor is the ratio of the last year index (year you turn 60) to the year you earned the wages. The index is called the National Average Wage Index. The SSA collects the data and makes the calculation. The indices are published on the website. You get your AIME (average indexed monthly earnings) by taking the indexed amounts for your highest 35 years of covered employment and dividing the total by 420 months. If you don't have the full 35 years, some years will be less or even zero, but you still divide by the 420 months.
There's a payment formula with two "bend" points. The monthly payment is the sum of three components, 90 percent of the first level of your AIME, 32 percent of the second level, and 15 percent above that to the maximum. The bend points were set in 1979 and are adjusted up by the same ratio, the NAWI in the year you turn 60/NAWI in 1979. You can estimate your bend points, but you need the NAWI for the year you turn 60 to be exact.
Your "benefit" is calculated at your full retirement age or FRA. For me that's age 66. If you choose to take it earlier, the monthly benefit is reduced by 5/9 of 1 percent for each month before FRA for the first 36 months and 5/12 of one percent after that. For someone with a FRA of 66, you get 80 percent of your benefit at 63 and 75 percent at 62. If you choose to wait beyond your FRA, your benefit increases 2/3 of 1 percent each month after your FRA until you turn 70. That's 8 percent of your FRA benefit. The percentage calculation in all cases is applied to your FRA benefit each year and is not compounded.
You should research some of the strategies for married couple that maximize the benefits and protect the likely surviving spouse.
Hope this is helpful. If I come across anything else that's relevant, I will add another reply.