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Social Security again

R

rrlund

Well-known Member
That changes things. I got a statement today. I guess because I'm still making decent money,the amount I can draw at full retirement went up almost $150 a month. At 62,it went close to another $100. Here's the kicker. I thought my full retirement age was 66 and 10 months. This says 66 and 2 months. That puts me in August four years from now instead of April five years from now.
I ran the break even date again figuring no inflation increase and using that new 66 and 2 months date. I break even at 77 instead of 80. If I keep earning and paying in,who knows how high my monthly will go in the next four years. Like I said,it went $150 this year. If I take it this year at 62,I'm locked in. Looks like I'm waiting unless cattle prices totally tank.
 
I have to start the Medicare/Social Security routine pretty soon. I am retiring Feb 28, 2018 which will give me 31 years with the company but I will only be 65 1/2. I have been offered a severance of 1yrs. pay so I will draw that and be 66 1/2 when that runs out, so I hope I'm covered.
 
Does your statement say 66 and two months too? I'd been under the wrong impression all along I guess. I thought last year it said 66 and 10,but maybe not. It'll be nice to have the income before winter instead of having to wait until the following spring. Might even change the way I farm 4 years from now.
 


Age To Receive Full Social Security Benefits
(Called "full retirement age" or "normal retirement age.")
Year of Birth *..... Full Retirement Age
1937 or earlier..... 65
1938 .........65 and 2 months
1939....... 65 and 4 months
1940 ..........65 and 6 months
1941 .......65 and 8 months
1942 .........65 and 10 months
1943--1954...... 66
1955 ...........66 and 2 months
1956............. 66 and 4 months
1957... 66 and 6 months
1958 ...........66 and 8 months
1959.. 66 and 10 months
1960 and later...... 67
 
There are other advantages to waiting especially if your wife's SS is going to be less than half of what you will draw.

Another advantage of waiting to full age is you can still work full time and not pay a penalty back to SS.

So, if your pension is enough to retire early go ahead. Then wait as long as possible before you sign up for SS.

I retired at age 55 and waited until I reached full age at 66 to sign up. I have no regrets. I never returned to work.
geo
 
"Another advantage of waiting to full age is you can still work full time and not pay a penalty back to SS."

That was one of the biggies that was holding me up in the first place. I don't plan to slow down yet. I didn't see a whole lot of sense in getting it just to have it taken away. I know they give it back,but what's the point getting it in one hand and handing it back off with the other only to be locked in to a lower monthly payment for the rest of my life?
 
Well, better talk to your CPA. My SS pushed my top income into the 25% Fed bracket. My state doesn't charge me on SS. So in a way, I'm giving 25% back. I always thought SS was a tax in the first place and now I paying a tax on the SS money I paid in. SUCKS!!!
 

Exactly....ya never know

And that's what can make it a tough decision

Just went to my SS account...full retirement for me is 66 and 4 mos

I'm still going at 62 in 2 years
 
to be fully vested, I would be 66 and 4 monthes then by the chart ,, the way I feel with neuropathy bad in my legs from chemo ,,. I think I will take it at 62. , I will be 61 in October ,,. who knows ,I may not get another 30 yrs ,..longevity runs in my family, but dam, I have been rode hard and put up wet for yrs and run backasswards thru the mil neked ,. and today I live by the adage "that which does not kill me only makes me stronger"
 
True that at full retirement age you can earn all you want and not reduce your benefit. But at a certain level of other income the SS benefit becomes taxable so you're giving some of it back.
 
This is interesting ...... from Wikipedia.

Critics have drawn parallels between Social Security and Ponzi schemes ...the vast majority of the money you pay in Social Security taxes is not invested in anything. Instead, the money you pay into the system is used to pay benefits to those "early investors" who are retired today. When you retire, you will have to rely on the next generation of workers behind you to pay the taxes that will finance your benefits.

As with Ponzi's scheme, this turns out to be a very good deal for those who got in early. The very first Social Security recipient, Ida Mae Fuller of Vermont, paid just $44 in Social Security taxes, but the long-lived Mrs. Fuller collected $20,993 in benefits. Such high returns were possible because there were many workers paying into the system and only a few retirees taking benefits out of it. In 1950, for instance, there were 16 workers supporting every retiree. Today, there are just over three. By around 2030, we will be down to just two.

As with Ponzi's scheme, when the number of new contributors dries up, it will become impossible to continue to pay the promised benefits. Those early windfall returns are long gone. When today's young workers retire, they will receive returns far below what private investments could provide. Many will be lucky to break even.
 
I went to two of them two weeks ago. 85 and 91. My mother just turned 91 a week and a half ago. My uncles brother in law was at one of the funerals. He'll be 98 next month. I talked to him for quite a while. Sharp as a tack. He said he's not on any medication at all,said it's just his bones and joints slowing him down.
I talked to a neighbor Friday afternoon who's 88. He advised waiting until I'm full retirement age. He said he had planned to. The only thing that changed his mind was a foreman who he just couldn't take anymore. He said in hindsight,he should have just clocked the guy and kept working.
 
My farm income might drop whether I want it to or not. My aunt just passed away. I've been working that place since 75. My cousins are planning to sell it,so I might loose that one. Another landlord is 88. I've got one my age. He's fought an unbelievable bout with cancer twice. If it comes back,he probably won't make it,then I don't know what'll happen to that place. One landlord is younger than me. When he bought that place,he said when his daughters were old enough,if they wanted a place to build,he was going to split that place and give it to them. They're in high school now.

I might be down to just working my own land and keeping half as many cows,or sell off 80 acres,try to get a little bit of interest on the money and keep 20-25 cows,work the remaining 160 acres that I'll keep for sure,and really retire.
 
Have to be careful with Medicare if you are planning on working past 65 (I think it's 65) If you do not sign up and start paying when you are eligible you will have to play catch up and pay back payments when you do sigh up. Have a couple friends that were caught by this little known gotcha.
 
Here is a twist on taking SS early that I heard on Dave Ramsey the other day.

The guy was debt free, disciplined, and secure with his income.

So his idea was - draw SS at 62, invest/save it totally and if/when he turned 67, he'd have all that income in HIS bank account vs in the treasury. If he died, God forbid, his family would have all of that money available, plus whatever the investment/interest earnings added to it.

Kind of got me thinking....
 
Why does a person need to be carefull with Medicare? I went on Medicare when I turned 65 and couldn't be happier.
 
You are doing it the right way. Just make sure to sign up for Medicare when you turn 65.
 
Oh I've got every intention of taking Medicare as soon as I turn 65. Then I'll only have to have Blue Cross on the wife. Health insurance premiums are a real touchy subject with me,and the sooner I only have to pay a small Medicare premium instead of Blue Cross,the better.
 
Make sure you get some professional advice on this guys. Don't just walk in to the office and sign up because your second cousin of so and so said to do it. There are so many ways that you can increase your monthly payments.
 
Well reading Crazy Horses response, I might have to start stocking up on little trinkets to start selling on those flea markets, since I am only 34 yet! LOL
 
They say to take it at 70 which is the max pay out, but do you want to give up 8 years of retirement.

I say take it at 62 if you can to afford to. Your younger years will be your best health years and your most active. Suppose you kick off early and don't get to enjoy a retirement.
 
Way too many reasons for me to let it go for 4 more years now that it evens out at 77. I don't plan to retire to "enjoy life" yet anyway.
 
I just ran a few numbers at 70 too. Assuming no more increases from additional "high years",I'd make another $450 a month from what they're telling me right now. It would only take until 77 and a half to break even,then it would really be gravy.
 
Ya, but I just heard some politician say yesterday, that people (and corporations) don't want to make more money because they will have to pay taxes on it. Well here's an option for them, they can just forward it on to me, and I'll be glad to pay the taxes....and keep the remainder.
 
Remember medicare only pays 80% of approved charges and you have to pay the 20% they don't approve. You also need something to cover your drug costs.
 
the better half and i went into SS office last week. I was shocked at all the options they offered her. i think everyone is different.
 
I know my choices will be different but my folks never traveled untill they were in there 60's it only gave them a few short years to see this country. I have never traveled and worked off farm i have had it with the idiots that you have to work with anymore and i paying in on income tax. So my plan is get it as soon as i can and hit the road yes i know it's a question how long you will live my aunt hit 104 and my dad was 100 my mom was 89 . For the stuff I've been exposed to i am doubtful i will make it that far I'm partially disabled now and i know of to many people that got it then died . To me it's not a question of money it's quality of life.
 
When I did mine at age 62, it was a 14 year margin to come out better by waiting til full retirement. I took it
 
The real kicker is there is no money in the US Treasury they have to borrow via selling bonds all the time and with 10,000 folks a day retiring its getting to be a pretty big check to write
every month.Figuring how much anyone will getting from SS in 15 years is iffy at best,seems to me there have to be cuts.
 
With my family history, retiring at 55, take SS starting at 62, I won't likely see much past 65, not going to keep working till it's too late. My family health history sucks. No one has made it past 72.
 
Having been retired for many years and enjoying my "new" life, but still very busy every day, let me make one suggestion. Whatever you decide to do, embrace it and move on. I have a few friends that retired and now, sit around, and mope around saying "I shoulda, wish I had, daggonit. That is a waste of time and ruins the enjoyment of retirement. Enjoy it, you worked hard for it, and don't second guess it.

Oh yah, one other thing. It is not a bad idea to get your retirement plans and interets sort of decided, so you are busy installing your "new life" from day 1 of retirement. The saddest retirees I know are the ones that just quit working and now sit on their AZZ all day...
 
(quoted from post at 21:45:56 03/27/17) Well reading Crazy Horses response, I might have to start stocking up on little trinkets to start selling on those flea markets, since I am only 34 yet! LOL
Click to expand...

It'd be a real good idea to start saving in some form for retirement. People look at SS a "retirement plan", it's not. It's unlikely SS as we know it today will be there for you, or for me for that matter and I'm 57.
 
Social Security tells you the longer you wait the more you will make. But in fact they hope you wait longer because how many people won't make it to that point and they will not have to pay out any money.
 
You're stealing a few of my thoughts. Those who retire to get away from a job or a life that they hate have wasted their lives in my opinion. I really feel sorry for them. Eventually,I plan to slow down enough to travel more than we do now. I love it and we do it every summer,but I want to keep farming enough to have something to come home to and to get up in the morning for. I'll just keep easing back to what stays comfortable for me. Like I've said before,I knew when it was time to quit milking cows,I'll know when it's time for another change. It ain't time yet.
 
If you recall,I ran the numbers a month or so ago using the last numbers they sent me and assuming my full retirement was 66 and 10. I had pretty much settled on taking it this year. These new numbers and younger full retirement age totally threw a wrench in the works and made me do a complete 180. Everybody was telling me that my monthly benefit wouldn't increase either,but obviously if you're still making some decent money,it does. Just that increase in one year at full age is enough to cover the Medicare premium.
 
Ya,I'll get a supplemental if and when my health starts to decline. That's a gamble I know,but I've been paying for my own insurance and getting nothing in return for so long,that I need a break from throwing money down a rat hole. My Blue Cross only pays 70% up to close to $10,000 out of pocket,but as I understand it,there's no "stop loss" on the Medicare at all. It's 80% to infinity of I understand it correctly.
 

You kept getting more & more information and asking questions

The new info. made you happy & confident in your decision because you did your homework.

I'm glad you're happy
 
It's a huge relief I'll tell you that. I had pretty well made up my mind to take it now,but I didn't feel good about it at all. It felt like I was selling cattle that I knew needed a few more pounds put on them. I just found the feed to finish them and contracted for a better price. lol
 

I have to admit this latest post spurred me to print out my SS information again....haven't done it in a few years

SS is great but I'm glad / lucky to still have a pension to be able to enjoy
 
I know that is the case here in Ia with the Part D {drug}plan. I am not on it but wife is and she has to be for the meds that she takes.
 
A ROTH is great in theory but it all depends on the government not changing the rules. In 20 more years the government is going to be scrambling for income (much worse than today). Anyone that thinks they are going to stand by while rich fat cats draw money tax free hasn't been paying attention the modern rhetoric. Planning for the future is the act of a selfishness and worthy of punishment through increased taxes.

Remember you already paid income taxes on Social Security but its still taxable above certain levels of income. If they would tax their own retirement system why wouldn't they tax the proceeds from a ROTH?
 
I started drawing ss at 62 1/2 and still worked,had to pay self employment tax. since then I have slowed down and getting the same,maybe a little more ss money and not paying self employment. So fiqure I will be getting that back.
 
If you do not need the money wait till you are 70 and you will get extra money then for the rest of your life. I wanted every dime I could get.
 
I'm 66, turning 67 in August, still working. Wife is still working, will turn 65 on June 30.

I've never considered a "break even" point on SS in any of my analyses of when to retire. I'm not fretting about outwitting the government actuaries. The only way to beat them is by dying before the break even point.... and then I won't care if I've left any money on the table or not. It's only been the last 5 years that I've started to hone in on any kind of "retirement date" with detailed projections. My calculations have been based on maintaining 90% of our pre-retirement income which will give us enough cash to live comfortably and buy premium supplemental health care (coupled with Medicare). We will reach that point this summer.

We'll be filing for her Medicare and retirement next week to start July 1st. I'm going to file to start collecting SS in August. We'll make our last "drive into work" sometime in July. We're thinking of a July 7 "exit date" as that's our wedding anniversary.

Our health is good and we would probably have worked longer in our "careers" but they have turned into "jobs" where our bosses micro-manage us like we're fresh faced kids, have no respect for our experiences and we've decided to "get out".

We've been lucky to be able to recover from the last recession in which we lost 40% of our retirement savings. I would have hated to be someone trying to retire in 2009. :(
 
(quoted from post at 20:21:19 03/27/17) Oh I've got every intention of taking Medicare as soon as I turn 65. Then I'll only have to have Blue Cross on the wife. Health insurance premiums are a real touchy subject with me,and the sooner I only have to pay a small Medicare premium instead of Blue Cross,the better.
Click to expand...

You will need Medicare supplement insurance from somewhere. Medicare only pays 80% of allowed charges, a supplement picks up the remaining 20%. Supplement goes up every year as you get older. My mom(87) and dad (91) use about half of their SS to pay supplement premiums. There may be cheaper plans out there though.

Garry
 
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