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I hear you, I am of the opposite camp and expect to have more invested then. It is all a matter of our individual situation and resources. Pensions make a major difference and as I have often said we are blessed. We are hoping to still be investing until who knows hopefully forever. Only time and what we can't plan for will tell.
I hear you, I am of the opposite camp and expect to have more invested then. It is all a matter of our individual situation and resources. Pensions make a major difference and as I have often said we are blessed. We are hoping to still be investing until who knows hopefully forever. Only time and what we can't plan for will tell.
my wife is older then me so she has been collecting since 62 . she will suspend hers at fra until 70 letting it grow .
I don't want to take the original post in a direction it wasn't meant to be but I am curious about this statement. My situation is a little different but still wondering about suspending benefits. I was on Social Security Disability. I am 66 and got a letter stating my benefits are now considered retirement. I was thinking I might delay my benefits and collect on my ex's SS. I was told if I wanted to do that I would have to pay back all the benefits I received previously.
Will your wife have to pay back any money she received so far in order to delay collecting?
Rules are different for those on SSDI. My wife collected SSDI until age 65. Then her benefits switched to SS. Later she switched again and collected at half my rate.
More and more of us are considering cremation rather than ridiculous costs for traditional caskets and funerals. Donating your body to a medical school will eliminate even the costs of cremation. Your relatives will receive the remains for any additional ceremony they feel is important.
It was hyperbole for my intention to spend myself down to close to zero when I die. No children. I can't take it with me. If I remarry, I will have to re-plan.
I'm already a cremate & sprinkle the ashes in the harbor person. I've never seen the point of a headstone.
my wife is older then me so she has been collecting since 62 . she will suspend hers at fra until 70 letting it grow .
I don't want to take the original post in a direction it wasn't meant to be but I am curious about this statement. My situation is a little different but still wondering about suspending benefits. I was on Social Security Disability. I am 66 and got a letter stating my benefits are now considered retirement. I was thinking I might delay my benefits and collect on my ex's SS. I was told if I wanted to do that I would have to pay back all the benefits I received previously.
Will your wife have to pay back any money she received so far in order to delay collecting?
anyone can suspend even today once they hit fra . it is actually called start and stop . you get no credit for the time you were collecting so nothing has to be paid back . you only gain the credits going forward .
Finally - as my husband and I enter our early 70's - I think we can relax a bit when it comes to spending down principal. Don't know if we will spend down - just saying I won't be as uncomfortable with the notion of doing it as I would have been a decade ago. Which is probably a good thing. Since I'm in the camp that sees the fed going back to 0% before it gets to 1%.
This is my situation. I am 74 and until recently have been living quite well within SS and government retirement income. Was even able to add to our principals with some side line work income and things like reinvesting our RMD's. We chose this path (leave principals alone, actually grow them) at age 62 when we both retired and it has worked well for the last 12 years. We lived well off of income and our principals grew. Her pension and SS stopped due to her death so now I will need to begin spending some principal.
While I am learning quite a bit one fact remains. As one ages they must adapt. Robyn hit the nail on the head about changing thinking. What worked for us at 62 does not work for me at 74 but the 12 years prior were easy enough.....LOL
a couple of hundred a month difference ? try more than 20k a year difference .
the difference between us getting 32k a year in ss filing early and over 54k a year in ss at 70 plus colas is a big difference in draw that we would have to take from savings forever if we filed early . we are not talking just a few hundred a month difference.
the difference between 62 and 70 is a 69% bigger check plus colas on the difference .
Don't forget that future cash flows have to be discounted to present value to make meaningful comparisons. A dollar you expect to get 10 years from now is worth (a lot) less than a dollar you get today. I know that concepts like discounting things to present value can make peoples' eyes glaze over - but they're extremely important when discussing future cash flows.
It is pretty easy to compare the present value of Social Security payments (or annuities or similar) in various amounts starting at certain ages using an annuity calculator.* Although one has to make 2 assumptions. One is an interest rate. I use 3% - because that is a reasonable - conservative rate of return these days. Note that the higher the interest rate you use - the less the value of money in the future.
The other is life expectancy. Which tends to be based on personal circumstances. So I'd use a decent life expectancy calculator for that one.
Another issue I have is strictly emotional - not math-based. There is always something in the back of my brain that says a bird in the hand is worth more than the proverbial possibly larger bird in the bush. And I cannot rule out Congress doing things in the future that might affect adversely people who aren't taking Social Security now (Congress could of course do that to people who are taking Social Security now - but I think the odds are lower). Like the Medicare "gotcha" last year - but worse. Robyn
*Social Security used to make these computations for you on its website. But the numbers were so conducive to encouraging people to start SS early - thereby increasing current "trust fund" ouflows - that Social Security eliminated its calculator.
Finally - as my husband and I enter our early 70's - I think we can relax a bit when it comes to spending down principal. Don't know if we will spend down - just saying I won't be as uncomfortable with the notion of doing it as I would have been a decade ago. Which is probably a good thing. Since I'm in the camp that sees the fed going back to 0% before it gets to 1%.
This is my situation. I am 74 and until recently have been living quite well within SS and government retirement income. Was even able to add to our principals with some side line work income and things like reinvesting our RMD's. We chose this path (leave principals alone, actually grow them) at age 62 when we both retired and it has worked well for the last 12 years. We lived well off of income and our principals grew. Her pension and SS stopped due to her death so now I will need to begin spending some principal.
While I am learning quite a bit one fact remains. As one ages they must adapt. Robyn hit the nail on the head about changing thinking. What worked for us at 62 does not work for me at 74 but the 12 years prior were easy enough.....LOL
Looking back, we chose the right path.
I am not sure how many people here realize how big the difference can be between say age 62 and age 74. You're the only person here who seems to be close to my husband's age - at least in terms of anyone who mentions his age (my husband will be 72 in a few weeks) - and you - like us - seem to recognize how comfortable it can be to see one's net worth grow - not shrink - when you're in your 60's (or younger). Especially in a difficult investing climate. My husband felt young when he was 62 - not so much anymore at age 72.
And your personal situation unfortunately brings up another aspect of this issue. What if a spouse dies prematurely? You can throw all those calculations/arguments you made at age 62 that might have seemed to favor taking late SS out the window. How old was your wife when she died? When had she started to take SS?
I've seen people who lived past 90 - but I've also seen people die in their 60s. One of my husband's aunts - from ovarian cancer (she was dead 6 months after Dx) - a friend with ALS. Etc. Like I've said - a bird in the hand....
Robyn
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