Yeah, I'm getting within striking distance of these decisions.

While I completely understand the rationale of "I need to get my money before I die," I can't help but laugh a bit at this.

I am retiring this fall at age 70. I will begin taking SS at that time. I never married and am not money motivated. This resulted in me starting to save for retirement late. Couple that with the Great Recession and lackluster investment performance I need every penny I can get from SS. If I stay in the states I will get a part-time job as well. One option I will explore is becoming an expat. I would like to live where I can live on my SS and use my investments to travel a couple of times a year. As other folks have said it depends on where you are at; money-wise and life-wise. This is my situation.

I retired at 62 and started taking it right away. At the time I was told the point at which I would be losing money would be age 78. My Dad lived to be 62. I am now 66, I can enjoy the money . At 78 will I be able to do the things I can now? probably not. We do not regret taking it early.

Jim

Good stuff here as I approach a similar horizon.

Loved my job. Worked 18 mos. past FRA. Banked my full salary and found I could survive off SS and two modest pensions.

I turn 80 in Dec. and have been retired 12 years now. No problem living well on return from investments, SS and pensions.

For me, I made the right choice on retirement age! You have to consider your particular situation.

quote:

Originally posted by straightshooter1:
Twelve plus years ago, my CPA said I'd have to live to at least 80 to break even if I waited to reach 66 and get the full benefits.

I seriously doubted then, and haven't changed my opinion, that there's only two chances that I will live that long-slim and none. So I took the money at 62. No regrets at all.

Bob

I'm with you, I will take it at 62 since my family history is such that the males do not live past 80, most do not make it to 75. I will take mine at 62 and my wife will get half of mine at 67.

I retired last year. I started receiving SS payments as soon as I reached my full retirement date.
I didn't retire until August, so I collected both As and my paycheck for seven months.
There was a tax hit for that, but I still came out way ahead.

Now, getting SS and my pension is working out pretty well.

I have a reliable pension from 31 years with the same outfit so I waited until 70 for SS. I'm 77 now, no regrets.

Anyone relying on SS and especially those considering collecting before full retirement age need to spend a few bucks on having a professional that specializes on the subject have a look at your particular situation.

There's a lot more moving parts besides the year you retire. Most people make the most towards the end of their working years and also the more years you work, the more you get.
I got those annual estimates they send for years but the actual amount I ended up getting at my full retirement age was much higher than I though I would get for all of those reasons.

Those numbers about taking x number of years to break even don't reflect the reduction in benefits from income and the income tax on benefits at a very low income that have a big effect on your net income from Social Security.

Also, each year they make a cost of living adjustment to account for inflation. This year it will probably be over 10% and by getting a higher monthly amount (around 35% more by waiting from 62 to full retirement, 66 for me) and having that increased by the COL adjustment, the numbers change too.

quote:

Originally posted by Pal:
At 78 will I be able to do the things I can now? probably not. We do not regret taking it early.

Jim

Maybe you will. I'm only a year and a half away from 78 and still do everything I did in my early 60s.

There's the finance thing, the longevity thing, and the 'will they screw with the deal' thing.

There's logic and analysis to use on the first part, the second is health-forecasting, and the third is political risk.

I've chosen to base my decision on IRS mortality tables, and the ostrich head-in-the-sand assumption that they won't screw with the deal.

And with those assumptions, I could do the math.

I went to the social security website and got my actual numbers, and went to work with Excel. For each Social Security start date that changed payout, I calculated the amount I'd get for every calendar year between now and 2042, which is when the IRS has me penciled in to toddle off the planet.

The math in my case and with my assumptions worked out that waiting for 'full retirement date' made financial sense, compared to starting early/now.

When that date rolls around in a couple years, I will do the math again based on what the rules/numbers are then, and see if that analysis still holds.

I don't worry about the longevity thing, or getting back what I put in. If you go tits up you're not going to care. I plan on going as long as my body will allow.

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
I don't worry about the longevity thing, or getting back what I put in. If you go tits up you're not going to care. I plan on going as long as my body will allow.

I don't plan on ever retiring. My dad died at 61, was disable for almost 10 years before that, basically saved up his whole life for a retirement that he never got (to enjoy at least).

My Dad did retire, and early for that matter. School wanted a younger teacher to head up the math department. He said no. They said yes. He said bye. Nice teachers PERA retirement. He decided to take half and half to my Mom after he died. Which was a godsend for my Mom. He lived for 12 years after he retired, and hated every minute.

OK, I retired and claimed my SS at 62 1/2. I went back to work after my bypass surgery, but only for 6 months. Every one's situation is different, and yours will probably dictate what you do. As you've seen in the posts, if you need the money, claim now. Its difficult to go too wrong. If you're lucky and live too long, you might just lose a few bucks. It'll teach you economize.

I don't even touch my SS these days. They direct deposit it and I ignore it. They do take my utilities out, and I don't care. I was even pleased to see they're upping it almost another 10%, which I'll ignore also. Those of us who've saved during our working years can do that. I do spend about $100 every 3 or 4 days taking my wife to dinner. We could cut back, but why?

I've listened to numerous podcasts on this subject. Most agree that every situation is different. Most will agree that it's best to wait as long as possible. I had thought about taking it early and then just investing the money, but with the stock market what it is, no thanks. I'm also substantially older than my wife, taking it early also affects the survivor benefits.

I retired 13 years ago and the first couple of years are great, but then I started missing the daily interaction with different people.

I started collecting SS at soon as I qualified at 62 (I'm 68 now) and haven't regretted it at all. I did the math and the break even then would have put me into my 80s. Another reason is that they keep raising the full benefit age...when I started working it was 60. An unexpected benefit was that my daughter wasn't yet 18 when I started collecting and she qualified for benefits based on my benefits. Her benefits were almost 70% of what I was getting and they weren't taxable...so that gave her a nice nest egg toward college.

Something to be aware of if you take early benefits is that it limits any additional income you might pick up. I think it was any earnings over $12k (might be off a bit) would reduce your benefit by $1 for every $2 you earned...that is in effect until you reach full retirement age (another 1.5yrs)

I was a bit lucky since my LEA contributed to SS as well as our county retirement. That means I wasn't subject to the "Windfall" exception against my SS benefits...so I get my full pension as well as my full SS check. I know guys who worked for other agencies that did not contributed to SS, who had enough qualifying quarters prior to entering LE who applied for SS recently who got checks of only a couple of hundred dollars

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:
...I know guys who worked for other agencies that did not contributed to SS, who had enough qualifying quarters prior to entering LE who applied for SS recently who got checks of only a couple of hundred dollars

More on the dreaded WEP:

https://www.police1.com/police...it-1U2WbSR25MaL3Uf3/

There's a repeal bill now in Congress but who can predict what will happen.

https://www.police1.com/legal/...rs-EZAlmWrDwXPCdMFI/

started my ss at 70. The ss wasn't needed 62-70. If I died before I 'broke even' it wouldn't matter to me because I'd be dead. On the other hand, the difference in the amount at 70 could some day become significant to me.

... good reading thanks all ...

I am also close to this decision making process.

And as I'm back again in Australia, there other implications for consideration.

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