10 things you should know about SS

Geo-TH,In · Apr 24, 2014

Some have asked questions about SS. I read this article a long time ago. Thought it might be helpful.

I retired at 55 and was going to draw SS at 62, but changed my mind. I have my reasons, which I don't want to go into, but for me delaying my SS for 4 years, until 70 will be a way of passing on my SS to another person, which will be a fair amount.

I learned from reading the article. Hope it helpful.
george
Social Security

Welding man · Apr 24, 2014

Everyones situation is different and has to be looked at, on that basis. I took mine at 62 and glad I did. I am self- employed and still work every day, but it allows me to chose my own hours of work and pick my jobs. I never was able to save much money over the years, now I save all of my SS check ,putting a large portion of it in an IRA. I have paid in to SS since I was 18 and I may not live to be 70. I took mine as soon as I could get it.

charlie n · Apr 24, 2014

I took my pension at 53.Lost 2 close friends that year and decided get it and run.Gonna do the same thing at 62.I started payin in at 16.Maxed out several years when work was good .I'm gonna get some back I hope.

jennifer408 · Apr 24, 2014

i think i kinda understand all but that last part
"The trust fund has a projected deficit. "
i know this can not be true because when FDR first set it up, he promised that these funds " will not be used for anything but ss "

rrlund · Apr 24, 2014

Timely information. I drove a fair distance to an auction alone today and was seriously thinking about how and when I was going to get out of this blasted cattle business. I thought it would probably be best to wait until I'm 67 to take it. I don't know if my knees or sanity will let me go until 70. For some reason 67 seems fairly close,70 looks like a long ways away.

I finish all my calves,so unless the boy is ready to quit his job or get a part time job closer to home,when I turn 65,the cows are going down the road after I wean the calves off in the fall. Then the last of the calves should be finished out about the time I turn 67. I can go to a corn,beans,wheat rotation for a few more years after that if my health or ambition lets me.

The whole 70 thing is something I'll have to give a little consideration to,but it'll probably be darned little.

TomH in PA · Apr 24, 2014

They"ll raise taxes again, to fix it again. Big problem now is how many people were added to disability (which comes out of SS) over the past few years in order to make the unemployment numbers look better.

Ray · Apr 24, 2014

I was told that if you make over 12000 a year you can't get SS till age 67.

fixerupper · Apr 24, 2014

Dad took his at 62 because he didn't think he would make it much past 70 judging by family history. He's now 89 and looking pretty darned good. Money isn't a problem for him but he regrets taking it so early. I'm 63 and have no plan to take it anytime soon. Jim

pat sublett · Apr 24, 2014

I'm 79, retired twice. Took my company retirement at 55, went into business and retired from that at 72. Retirement is not all that it's cracked up to be. The wife is all ways around, no time off. don't even get the week ends or holidays off. Better think twice about it.

Fergienewbee · Apr 24, 2014

I took mine at 62, primarily because the company I worked for was in a bad way. Boss was seven weeks behind on paychecks when I took a layoff. I didn't know I could quit and still draw unemployment under those conditions. So far it has worked out well. I do some freelance estimates for an insulator and my wife is still working. She was off for several months.

Larry

JML755 · Apr 24, 2014

I'm about to turn 64 and plan to retire "no earlier" than 67. My wife will turn 65 then and we'll both be on medicare. That gives us 3 more years to pay down our mortgage, build a retirement home and be debt free with a sizable 401k account. Me working a year past full retirement age will balance her retiring BEFORE full retirement age.

Only did all the calculations and planning within the last year to come up with the numbers that showed what it would take and when for us to live comfortably. What really precipitated it was that my wife met with someone from Fidelity at work who took all our pertinent information, assets, debts, income, etc and said she could retire THIS YEAR AT 62!

I said, "yeah sure but there'd be no cushion" in our living expenses to live the lifestyle we want. I don't want to be eating beans out of a can so I can retire tomorrow.

However, everyone's situation is different. My advice is to run the numbers, then consider your health, whether you like going to work at your job, family situation, what you plan to do in retirement, etc.

I'd bet that most guys on this forum will be very active in retirement, probably not many couch potatoes here (health willing).

Geo-TH,In · Apr 24, 2014

You could make millions from investments, interest, pensions, rent, and still get SS. However if you work for someone, there is a limit. I think it's higher than $12k, but not by much.

I hope people read the article.

My brother took his at 62. At age 70 he is living in poverty. Inflation eats up the COLA.

dpendzic · Apr 24, 2014

I computed my break even point from taking at age 62 and at age 66. it was 14 years from age 62 so it was a no brainier for me to take it at 62

Dean · Apr 24, 2014

Gotta love it, 408.

FDR and his henchmen had to make other, since broken, promises in order to get it passed, much like another recently passed boondoggle.

Dean

Dean · Apr 24, 2014

Enormous numbers, TomH.

Dean

44 massey · Apr 24, 2014

Had it all figured out to retire at 67, but things don't always go as planned!!! Was involved in an accident which forced me into retirement and disability at 62!!! Had our (wife and mine) medical insurance thru my work!!! Luckily a disability insurance that I had taken out required that I apply for SS right after the accident (was 60 then) and I ended up getting accepted for SS!! That allowed me to be eligible for medicare 2 yrs after acceptance!! At least now just have to pay for wifes insurance!! Sure would have rathered to keep on working! Retirement is better if you do it when you are ready, not when you have to!!!

Goose · Apr 24, 2014

My dad farmed the same farm and worked the same workload until he was 85. A year later, a stroke got him.

The Good Lord willing, I'm committed to working until at least 84. I'm 79 now.

I figure the Lord blessed me with enduring good health and cognitive abilities, so I may as well make use of them. If I was to suddenly declare myself retired, I'd probably keep right on doing the same things I am now.

JMS/.MN · Apr 24, 2014

I"m sure that didn"t come from SS- you were told wrong. Others explain here regarding allowed earnings while on SS.

Mike (WA) · Apr 25, 2014

You can start drawing SS any time after age 62, regardless of income. But if you're under "full retirement age", which is now 66, you get docked a dollar off your SS check for every 2 dollars you make over $15,xxx. Age 66 or older, you can make as much as you want, but the more you make, the more of your SS is subject to income tax.

Bret4207 · Apr 25, 2014

It always amazes me that so many people depend on SS and Medicare. They'll spout off about having earned it, how it's due to them and then in the next breath complain about other people who worked and earned a pension, that the person payed for, that comes with medical coverage, that the person also pays for. Not pointing fingers at anyone here, just a general observation. No one has a "SS savings account", what you get comes out of someones paycheck today. Your SS contributions were spent decades ago. I suppose it's s sore spot for me, with in laws that never planned for anything and then expected SS to support them, just like FDR said back in the late 30's.

I'm 54, my wife 53. Neither of us has any confidence that we'll receive a single cent from SS or Medicare. In fact, I rather hope by the time I'd become eligible the whole ponzi scheme has been replaced for the most part with a tax free IRA type account for each person. Nothing else can possibly work int he long run.

Geo-TH,In · Apr 25, 2014

Brett,
I retired at 55, pension. When I turn 65 I have no choice, my pension insurance stopped, government put on medicare A. I pay for medicare B and D, which is cheaper than my pension insurance cost me.

I don't remember exact figures, but if you take ss at 62 vs full retirement you get about 70% less. Each year over retirement you get 8% more.

Some want their money now. My broker is waiting for age 70. He will get about $4000 and his wife will get half his $2000. I could force myself to live on is SS.
george

D beatty · Apr 25, 2014

George I retired at 63 and went on pension and SS. SS only cut me 23% and if I had gone at 62 they would have cut me 25%. The SS office told me that by me taking it at 63 and if somebody else at 66 started drawing at the samme time at age 79 we both would have drawen out the same amount of money. Only after age 79 would the person that took SS age 66 would make more money.

D beatty · Apr 25, 2014

You have a little misconception about pensions not all pensions come with medical when you retire. As far as SS it would not be in bad shape if our friends in Washington would have left it alone instead of giving us an IOU and putting money in general fund.

D beatty · Apr 25, 2014

I started taking SS in Jan. of 2010 and you could make $14,160.00 before you are penalized. I retired from job in April when I hit $13,000.00 mark giving me some room in case there was some money coming out there I did't figure in .

W_B · Apr 25, 2014

Thanks for posting that article, George. I'm almost 59, wife at 58 and we have lots of thinking to do about retirement age considering SS, pensions, 401(k)s and annuities we have (good choices early and some good luck along the way are going to pay off for us) . We should do OK no matter what, but want to maximize the benefits. I'm thinking of delaying SS until late 60s anyway. The long commute to work that we have and the stress on the job will probably put us out of here sooner than later.

Geo-TH,In · Apr 25, 2014

There are many ways to look at SS. Say your spouse's SS won't be much. Say she was a stay at home mom, who also worked on the farm. Then the longer you wait, the more she can draw from yours,50%. Then when you die and she, she should be able to draw all of yours if she waits to be able to draw full amount.

Most people are looking at short term, not the big pic,

D beatty · Apr 25, 2014

My wife is doing just what you posted and is getting half of mine. If I would have died before age 66 she would have to live on what she got but after age 66 she can take all mine instead of hers and I have made it past that point.

EricInSEI · Apr 25, 2014

COLA is supposed to equal inflation.

Of course there is the problem that people don't agree on how much inflation there is.

EricInSEI · Apr 25, 2014

Where would you want them to put the money instead of government IOUs? The stock market, corporate bonds, or maybe the CBOT? Maybe they could have bought a lot of CDs at Chase or Bank of America. I don't know where the government could put that much money without a lot of risk.

My Grandfather was farming when farmers were included in SS. He paid in 5 quarters and then retired, sold the farm and moved to town. He was in his mid seventies and his youngest daughter was not yet in HS. Granddad and then Grandma collected SS for over 40 years on that 5 quarters of paying SS taxes. That is also part of SS's problems.

D beatty · Apr 26, 2014

You didn't read it right . The Feds had the money for the baby boomer put away back in the early 60s and around 1963 they decided they needed the money and took it out over the years and put it in the general fund and left a note in a vault 20 miles out side of Washington DC stating they owed us the money. There was a big article in one of the veterans magazines about 15 years ago.

Geo-TH,In · Apr 26, 2014

So if you look at wife getting half, then every year past 66 you would get 8% more and she half 4% =12% per year for waiting. Age 70 then combined = 48%. See why SS wanted you to take it early?

D beatty · Apr 26, 2014

George I have had older friends that said that they were waiting till 70 to retire and go on SS and have time to do some of the things they couldn't do while working. Well half of them died before they reached 70 and the other halfs health was to bad to enjoy what they wanted to do. I took early SS and am doing some of the things that I want to do before I cabn't.

Bret4207 · Apr 27, 2014

(quoted from post at 04:58:39 04/25/14) Brett,
I retired at 55, pension. When I turn 65 I have no choice, my pension insurance stopped, government put on medicare A. I pay for medicare B and D, which is cheaper than my pension insurance cost me.

I don't remember exact figures, but if you take ss at 62 vs full retirement you get about 70% less. Each year over retirement you get 8% more.

Some want their money now. My broker is waiting for age 70. He will get about $4000 and his wife will get half his $2000. I could force myself to live on is SS.
george

George, my point is that so many people will complain mightily about a gov't worker getting a pension when they themselves are just waiting for another form of gov't pension. I see no difference between a gov't worker putting in 20-40 years of work and getting a pension, that he contributed to his whole working career and a someone else getting SS and Medicaid that they contributed to for their working years.

I was not arguing what your pension plan was designed to do.

10 things you should know about SS

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