Posted on 05/03/2020 8:49:19 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I had a good friend and Co-worker who had 2 pensions from previous jobs and was waiting until 70 to take Social Security. All the males in his family died in their 90s.
He turned 70, finally took a buyout from the company and stopped working December 31, 2016. Very healthy, spry and active. You’d have thought him to be in his 50s.
January of 2017 he finally had time to get all those medical scans done and get his insurance up to date. Found a spot on his lung.
November of 2017 he was dead.
RIP Dan H.
I’m taking it early.
I will be 70 soon. I probably won’t take social security because I don’t agree with it. When it was started in the 1930s, people lived on average to age 61. Seniors now get far more money from it than they paid into it because of longer life expectancy.
I have enough money for retirement. Not taking it won’t do anything to reduce the debt because the amount is too small to be significant, but at this point, I prefer not to participate in bankrupting the country.
Plus, in 40 years of work I never ever even asked for a raise. The only time I was slighted I quit and went to work for the competition the next week for a better paycheck than the slick manager at the old job had been paying me. He had given me a review and said that he had assumed I was a higher grade level than I was and had put me in for higher grade above that. He said payroll had denied the raise because I could not be advanced two grade levels. Therefore, I didn't get anything at all, but he wanted me to know, he would take care of me in the next review. I reported the next Monday across the street. The funny thing was, I went from 1 Peachtree Street to 2 Peachtree Street.
Years later, my Senior Manager at MCI called me into his office and showed me a resume for that "slick good ole boy manager" that had shown me how stupid he was. I was able to tell him to shred it and don't let any of the Director's other Senior Managers hire him either.
The way I look at it is this:
$141k earned if I take it at 62 to use and enjoy till I would have broken even at age 71.8...
Takes advantage of the money while I’m still young and healthy, while it (SS) may be solvent and before the leftists institute means testing and eliminate my current lawful access to the funds the govt took out of my pay all the previous working years.
Only problem is that 62 is still 3.25 years away....
We “did the math” and started at 62, upon retirement...couldn’t see scrimping or touching saved retirement funds to be comfortable for a few years waiting for “maximum” benefits....life is for the still living...:)
Medicare mandatory (forced) eligibility made me do it. But I’m glad it did.
This author displayed his ignorance when he wrote: “ It may be beneficial to [commence] benefits early so you can get the most out of what you have worked your whole life to build.” There is no building anything for yourself when it comes to SS.
The big unknown and crap shoot in all this, outside the terminally ill, no one knows his death date. If my father began benefits at 62, he would have collected for 7 years, and my mother would have had a greatly reduced benefit for the next 27 years. My in-laws saved nothing for retirement, SS was their pension, took as soon as they could get their hands on it. They slid into elder poverty and death eventually relieved them of their situation. If they delayed while they continued to work to full retirement age, instead of spending new found money, it would have been better for them. Hence, if one doesn’t “need” the money, is disciplined to invest what $$$ remains after it has been taxed for 8 years, and stay ahead of inflation, then I can see the scenario where 62 could be the right age.
On the other hand, under current law (solvency), one can gain an ~8%/year increased benefit by delaying up to age 70. 8% today is significantly greater than the “official” inflation rate, and most average people won’t make by investing. So if you don’t “need” it early, look at it as a future bonus, perhaps as the $$$ to fund med-supp expenses.
I’ll cross this bridge when I get there, but leaning to not take it early. I will re-evaluate my situation every year starting at age 62 as conditions may change, as you have listed the most common factors to consider. So I guess I got the answer wrong, or might belong in the not so financially astute crowd. The only way one will know (but can’t) is to run the numbers after one dies.
“I probably won’t take social security because I don’t agree with it.”
I applaud and respect your principles, though if you change your mind because you were “promised” this benefit, I understand that as well. We both know standing on principle here will do nothing to change the spending the problem this country has.
Started drawing at 65 4 years ago, set up an account just for SS. Other than paying taxes on my gross income I’ve yet to touch it. I won’t ever stop working so might as well let it ride.
Your real break even is not 81 -- that is what the government tells you. They do that calculation without taking into account the "time value of money", which is the return money would earn if invested.
Funny thing there is that they know all about the time value of money. If you owe anything at all to the IRS, the boys and girls over there charge you interest on the money you owe them.
But somehow, when Uncle is holding your money back, he seems to forget all about that interest thingy.
Your breakeven age gets larger and larger depending on the rate of return you assume. Somewhere around 7 or 8%, which is below the historic rate of return for the stock market, breakeven age becomes infinite. You are always better off to claim ASAP.
“I’ve found SS to be scarily efficient.”
True that, to some degree I am sure it should be expected after approaching nearly 100 years of operation. I know someone who died on the last day of a month. SS check was deposited into their account the next day. 3 days later, SS reversed the deposit!! I also learned that if one dies on any day in a month, the SS check for that month is due back to SS, even if one lives the entire 31 days in a month. In other words, SS pays its benefits 1 month forward.
Too bad voter roll updates or the USPO, just to name two governmental duties, couldn’t be made more efficient.
I am pushing for 66 and 8 months (full bennies, assuming it will still be there). Coincides with the EOL of some of my product technology, and I really don’t want to be starting something new. Also, the old tech will still need some support, so may do some limited contracting...
Social Security payments are calculated so that, regardless of the age you start SS, your average lifetime benefit is the same.
From what I read “they” want to encourage sheep to hold off as long a possible, hoping they will die. I will get mine right at 62. I believe the “break even” point is 78/79 so what.
I would bet that a fair percentage of them are people who were laid off and can't find another job because of their age.
I retired a couple of years ago at 65 and after that could work as much as I wanted to without penalty — but I don’t want to. Volunteering at historical organizations is much more satisfying, and between SS and my pension, plus savings, I am doing just fine. Making my fortune (such as it is) in Southern California and then returning home to Texas turned out to be a very smart move.
They always pay a month behind.
At 62, you make more money until age 84. If you started at 72, you don’t make more until age 84 than someone who took it at 62.
If you think you’ll live past 84, good luck, because you probably won’t.
Important consideration if you are still working, and want to claim SS benefits before full retirement age (66+)
https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html
“If you are younger than full retirement age and make more than the yearly earnings limit, your earnings may reduce your benefit amount. (Full retirement age is 66 for people born between 1943 and 1954. Beginning with 1955, two months are added for every birth year until the full retirement age reaches 67 for people born in 1960 or later.)
If you are under full retirement age for the entire year, we deduct $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit. For 2020, that limit is $18,240.”
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