Do people here recommend taking SSI as soon as you turn 62, or wait until you’re 70 so the payments are larger (assuming you don’t need the money right away).
I have a personal finance guru coworker who advises taking it at 62, investing it in an S&P 500 Index fund and let the money grow at 11% avg annualized return vs. the 5% SSI rate.
If you are still working, my view is take the money now, and increase your 401K deduction by the same amount. You will see a higher total return.
Plenty of options there. If someone has a plan to do it at 62, go for it. That lower percentage will be locked in forever, though. I’m watching a current worker go the distance - 70 years old will pay out higher than the 100% at age 67. It all depends on circumstances.
The lifetime benefit from Social Security is calculated to be the same regardless of what age you start receiving benefits. So someone starting at age 62 isn’t getting anything more or less, over the lifetime of payments, than someone starting at age 70. That being the case a person might as well start at age 62.
I just signed up for SSI at 66. I will not receive my first payment till September. So if you want it at 62, good luck!
It’s a crap shoot. I read it takes 14 years to make up the difference between taking it at 62 vs 66. What’s your family history health wise. Then again you can drop dead anytime or be hit by a bus.
My spouse took it at 62 needed the money. I waited til 65 when my pensions started. I’m very glad I waited.
“62 or wait until 70”
Most folks take it as soon as possible.
I waited until 70 because of my specific situation:
—Parents lived well into their 90s and I am in excellent health so my life expectancy is on the high end
—My wife made a lot less than I do so I wanted to max her benefit—both while I was alive and after I died
—I could afford to wait
—Waiting offered a pre-COLA 8% extra benefit for each year of waiting
—I am betting the broken system will continue to muddle through, probably with high inflation, for a couple of decades
I totally get it that other folks may see things differently.
Take it at 62.
I took it at 62. Retired from teaching at 61, so I starting collecting on my pension in July, and SS in November. No guarantee on your live expectancy. I could afford less SS because my my pension.