Posted on 08/02/2018 2:29:04 PM PDT by Red Badger
The maximum monthly Social Security benefit for a person retiring in 2018, at their full retirement age, is $2,788 per month , or $33,456 per year. To achieve this benefit, you must have had the maximum taxable earning for a whopping 35 years. It is for this reason, that most people’s benefits will be far less. Forget this number if you plan to retire ahead of your full retirement age.
Do you think you could live off $2,788 per month? Before you think about that, it’s important to note that the average check for 2018 is just $1,404 per month. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that if you are reading this post you would have a rough time getting by on $1,404 per month.
What if I wait until 70 to collect Social Security?
For those of you looking to get the largest Social Security check possible, you will need to wait to begin collecting until you are 70-years-old. To put this in perspective, if you were 70 this year, and receiving the maximum benefit, your check would be about $3,680 or $44,162 per year. This translates into a 32% increase in your monthly benefit. The bad news here is to achieve the maximum Social Security check you would have likely been making six figures for many years. This means that Social Security would cover less than half of your pre-retirement income.
How is Social Security calculated?
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
I knew that but forgot about it. Thanks. Maybe I wasn’t so dumb waiting until my full retirement age after all.
https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/piaformula.html
I’m going to take it at 66 but continue working until my 69th birthday. I’ll have to pay tax on it but it’ll add about $75k to the retirement account.
My retirements needs are not lofty. Buy a house for cash in a economically depressed area in ohio where $90k can get you 2000sf, finished basement with wet bar, on a quarter acre OR a really nice 5th wheel in a really nice rv resort in florida. I’ve been around the world twice with my line of work so there isn’t any place I want to go I haven’t already been. Advantages and disadvantages to both.
- your expected years remaining (family history and current health),
- the size of your various income streams,
- expected changes in the law,
- what you would do with other retirement income or with social security payments if you took those payments early/late,
- expected income in those early years and later years,
- how you visualize your lifestyle/spending in early retirement and in late retirement,
- and many other factors.
I've made my decision, but it's based on too many factors for others to simply follow my lead.
It doesn’t work that way. From what I understand, because I was going to take it in a few months is
The SS is subject to the 2 for 1 rule meaning you lose $1 of SS for every $2 you earn. If you make enough, you don’t collect a penny of SS.
Instead, once you reach full retirement age, the gov’t adds up all the benefits you didn’t get because of the penalty, and add them to your regular payments until life expectancy which is 83. In other words, if you were supposed to get $1600 a month at 62, you would miss 4 years worth of payments assuming your retirement age is 66. so, $1600 x 48 = $76,800. Then you take that amount, and divide by 17 (number of life expectancy years left), then divide by 12. That is the amount you would have added to your $1600 per month which is $376.47 so your benefit would be $1976.47 until you turn 84 at which time is drops to $1600.
In other words, it works if you think you’ll live, the gov’t is betting you die.
Helluva system.
that’s if you continue working. if SS is your only income, no federal taxes are due but you may owe state taxes.
The other bad news is that if you wait until 70 to take your SS, the chances are pretty good you’ll be too doddering to have anything worthwhile to spend the money on, or you’ll be dead.
If you have decent private savings and/or a private pension and/or have low living expenses and/or debt free, do not wait until 70 to start taking SS ... in other words. if you don’t really NEED to take your SS, you should take it ...
oh, and cutting through all the gobbledygook about the more you wait, the more you get, everyone accumulates monthly payment increases of about .5%/month more for each month you wait to take SS (not counting additional payments made to SS if you are still working) ...
Yep. Now, don't let that make you nervous about the government taking over your health care...
I get $1004.00@month for SSDI + Surviver. Starting 06/01/18 I got Medicare A,B & D coverage and they took &134.00 @ month.
It’s no picinic to pay the rent, bills, Dr Copay and Rx. Basically nothing left.
So much for paying in all those years.
I dunno about you, but I find investing stressful. Which stock, when to buy, how much to buy, when to sell, whether or not to go long or short etc. I do it, but it’s a lot of work.
Since SS has always been zero in my planning
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I’ve always viewed it as a financial supplement, not security. The term “Social Security” is a misnomer in my opinion, as evidenced by the average check for 2018 of just $1,404 per month.
I get SS but never planned to depend on it.
“The SS is subject to the 2 for 1 rule meaning you lose $1 of SS for every $2 you earn. If you make enough, you don’t collect a penny of SS.”
not quite. you’re “allowed” to earn a certain amount before the penalty kicks in and that penalty-free amount increases every month as you approach full retirement age, at which point there’s no penalty no matter how much you earn. for example, if one’s full retirement age of 66 is reached in 2018, you can earn $3,780 per month without penalty ...
Odds are high you won't make it that long. And if your do, it's good medical care you'll need not more disposable income.
Most old folks do far less than they did just a few years younger.
Having more money when you die doesn't mean anything.
Have less money but enjoying the last years of your life means everything.
>>I get SS but never planned to depend on it.<<
Fun money. Mrs FD and I love to travel so we might be able to widen our scope if we pull the trigger.
I do have to say that despite our monetary bulwark Mrs. FD gets a little nervous. So I was able to show her how if we zero out our considerable savings that with the Cal pension and SS we would be more than comfortable (we have owned our house for quite some time now).
I don’t see that happening and financial planners say it is impossible to plan that way so — what, me worry?
I am more concerned about Gen X and Millennial. They will be the end of the SS Ponzi scheme where it will break wide open.
Well, sort of. I don’t have kids so I will mostly just be sad for them.
I was Diagnosed with Leukemia at age 52. Probably got it when I was50.
I took my SS at Age 62 which was my expected Sell By Date at the time of my Diagnosis. Just turned 65 a week ago.
Two of my closest Childhood Friends both died at Age 61 from Heart Attacks. They worked their whole lives and they each “contributed” about $250,000 into the SS System.
They never got a dime.
I disagree. I waited until 70 and now 5 years on I’m not doddering and I’m relatively certain I’m not dead. I got a SIG DMR some months back and I can hit the silhouette target first time 5 out of 7 at 600 yards. That was before I foolishly took it fishing off the coast of FL and accidentally dropped it in 350 feet
I understand which is also why I said this, “ If you make enough, you don’t collect a penny of SS”.
You had a boat accident too, huh?
You do realize if you have any other reasonable income and take early retirement it will get taxed to nothing ...
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