Social Security

[elkhound]

IMHO Social Security isn't going anywhere. The Government always finds a way to fund what they want. Again, JMHO but I think the optimum age to draw your SS is 66-67. For me it was 66, but depending on when you are born it may differ. For me at 66 I could draw my SS and still earn as much as I wanted working. If I had started drawing at 62 my income would have been limited to about $14,000.00 per year. If I earned more than that my SS would be reduced. So I double dipped for about 4 years, and retired from work at 70.

Elkhound, I would seriously question your Relative's financial advisor. All the analyses I have seen show about a 12 year difference in payback between 62, 66, and 70. My logic was I could probably make it to 74, and still have a pretty good chance to reach 78, but 82 might be a stretch. I have not regretted the decision.

from things i been studying on this year and from crunching numbers its about same for difference of ages 62 and 67...67 is full age for me....but that didnt count adding up age 70 amount....cause i aint waiting that long for sure.

also as example one thing i wasnt aware of is difference money is viewed different by govt/tax...example...if you wanted to do a roth account you cant use ss money...you have to be working showing earned income...interest ,pension,401k doesnt count. it has to be earned wages....also you are limited..not because of ss..just limited..you can only buy 10k a year in savings bonds...i think of each class type though.

i think as of now for this year if you draw ss early the amount you can still earn is like 23k or there abouts.

theres are a bunch of new laws and limits etc. and changes happening and coming soon too...so it seems we all better do homework.

above is not advice of any type..its me blabing on and just talkinf to be clear.

also if you have a LLC you are limited in amount you can work...from what i read its 45 hours a month...i was looking for a loop hole...it wasnt there....blocked.

 

[randyt]

I just really hope the politicians keep 0n taxing it, I mean for God sake they NEED that money

 

[elkhound]

well i was curious so i went and retrieved my numbers for ages 62,67 and 70.

calculated to age 83 like i said before....gross amounts for each are not far off...70 looks better monthly for sure....but gross wise...its still less than a years salary worked earning wages..spread out over 21 years from 62 i can pick up enough pop cans to cover it on side of road.

past 83 then gap widens more...so question is...do you think you make it past 83 and can you make difference up easier by starting earlier.

@Tommyice your 2cents on this mess,

 

[Lenny]

My observation has been that Medicare absorbs every bit of the Social Security raises.

 

[Tommyice]

well i was curious so i went and retrieved my numbers for ages 62,67 and 70.

calculated to age 83 like i said before....gross amounts for each are not far off...70 looks better monthly for sure....but gross wise...its still less than a years salary worked earning wages..spread out over 21 years from 62 i can pick up enough pop cans to cover it on side of road.

past 83 then gap widens more...so question is...do you think you make it past 83 and can you make difference up easier by starting earlier.

@Tommyice your 2cents on this mess,

Truthfully I haven’t done numbers yet. In speaking with my cousin (certified financial planner) and her son (stock broker and financial whiz kid) both have told me in my situation take it as soon as I can.

I have 401k, a sufficient HSA account balance to take me through to Medicare, stocks (both employee stock purchase and individual) and I already live like a monk with no debt. Plus there is property from our grandparents. They made it possible for a roof over my head for all of my 58+ years. The proceeds will keep a roof over my head for rest of my life. Some of my future living will be off of the largesse of previous generations. There is no generation after my brother and I.

From now until I take SS is my unknown and what “worries” me.

Of course you’re older than me so you can blaze a trail

 

[elkhound]

Of course you’re older than me so you can blaze a trail

roflmao....i think its just a few months...if that.....lol

i am a monk too.....lol

 

[randyt]

I don't really care what the financial planners tell me. My father lived to 68 and my mother to 72. My dad was a numbers cruncher too. Tomorrow is not promised so I'll probably draw as soon as I can

 

[Tommyice]

roflmao....i think its just a few months...if that.....lol

i am a monk too.....lol

Doesn’t matter. No matter how I am you’ll always be older.

We should start a retreat and charge lots of money. At least enough to retire on.

 

[elkhound]

Doesn’t matter. No matter how I am you’ll always be older.

We should start a retreat and charge lots of money. At least enough to retire on.

get ya monk on weekend retreat!!

months..months i tell ya...lol

grumpy monk retreat !

 

[joel]

I been hearing this my whole life.
My uncle a democrat, said they will never ran out of SS, it is all in one bucket, not a hundred small buckets, so SS come from the same account as warfare or fed employees pay.
Two tax payers would not stand for it.
Three Anyone who voted for the bill, would be voted out of office
All voter want what they paid in, you will never get all of it, it is the worse retirement out there, but you paid it in and it’s better that nothing.

 

[Dave V]

It really all comes down to how long we’re here…
I’m 77 this year and IF I’m here until 93,
SS will have paid me back almost exactly a cool million.
I waited until age 70 because I'm still working at my grocery,
but IF I had taken SS at 62, I’d have 777K at 93,
or if I had taken SS at 65, I’d have 867K at 93.
Try one of these break-even calculators.
The right answer is probably to take it before they do something stupid like privatizing it.

 

[UrbanHunter]

So I looked into it when I was 60, thinking I would take my social security as early as possible, but then I realized if I kept working my penalty would mean that I received nothing from SS. So I waited till full retirement age (the middle one ~67) when you can take it without penalty, so now I can collect and work full time. But here is the secret, each year they recalculate your earnings history, replace your lowest earning year with the current one, and readjust your benefit (upward), so as long as I am making more than what I started out making, it's a win, win, win.

What I have learned is that it doesn't matter how much you make, what is important is how much you spend relative to how much you make. I have known people who always have to have the latest and greatest thing, keep ahead of the Jones, and never save a dime... If you can keep your expenses to a minimum and save, you can learn to live within your means. I have worked hard to pay off my debts and get my monthly expenses below what my SS check is. I don't plan to live the high life when I retire, but I also don't want to be on pins and needles for the rest of my life, so my goal is to have my retirement income be about double my monthly expenses.

I've tried to live well within the 50,30,20 (needs, wants, savings) budgeting rule, but as I have paid off debts (including the house) that has transformed into a 32, 5, 63 program. If SS is designed to replace 25% of your income and you currently live on 37% (needs and wants) of your income, you will only need to make up 12% to make ends meet when you actually retire. Knowing what my SS was going to be and what my expenses are has helped me to make a realistic plan.

One word of caution, the SS calculation page is in pre-tax dollars and does not include the Medicare deduction (they make you pay for that ~170), so when planning for retirement you should use some fraction of what they say you will get, I used 80%.