Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think the SS at 62 focuses too much on the math. What if you are just tired of working? If SS makes retirement possible, isn't that worth more than squeezing every dime out of the system? I am sure there are people out there that love their jobs, but I think most people are ready to retire at 62. What price can you put on having each day to do as you wish, and not have to report to some job?
LOLOL! By that standard, I was ready to retire at 40!! - But I had children and felt compelled at a cellular level to be a backstop for their inevitable life lessons. The risk is higher these days: the peer culture makes them special snowflakes at a minimum.
For the short term, yes, which meant you had to ride it down to start. But the time horizon on the 12% was 30 years, and high interest rates were not going to stay that way for three decades. If you were on the cusp of retirement and could lock in 12% a year until you were 90, it was a very very good bet. (And the bond rate was actually closer to 13%.)
Agreed on "good bet". I bought CATs during that era for 17 cents on the dollar, staggered to coincide with future tuition payments (2 kids then). The tax payments on the imputed interest income were benign.
Given tuition inflation, I was short - but I able to self-insure the difference, comfortably. Those CATs were a honking, screaming deal. Thanks to that decision, the two kids who went to college are completely debt free, with no intervention from Big Brother and his FAFSA applications. Best decision I ever made.
Just think about it: funding a $50K annual tuition (let's say) with $10K plus some cash to fund the difference - that is the FREEDOM that those CATs bought me and the kids.
I did buy them when the kids were very young - they had 15 years plus until the first tuition payment. Still, I view it as a screaming deal, to be guaranteed freedom from student debt.
Common comment here from some posters, if you don’t take it at 62, you don’t enjoy your life, what’s with that?
Because most do not understand that if you retire early and delay you DONT LIVE ON LESS if you have a good plan ...your draw should be the same regardless of when you take ss ..all you should be doing is fronting yourself the ss money for 8 years and then taking it back later with the bigger check ..
The ratio of market and rate dependency should shift a bit to more ss making up the same draw ..
Those that think you don’t get to live on more until 8 years later either don’t understand that is not how delaying works or should work or they just have a poor plan . No one delaying should not be enjoying all they can day one or they really can’t afford to delay if they can’t afford to safely lay it out up front..
These discussions are never about working longer to delay .... they are only about retiring at 62 AND HAVING THE OPTION TO TAKE SS AT 62 OR TO DELAY FILING .....
I was done with 'wage-income' at age 49 (My 3rd retirement).
Should have quit 20 yrs sooner, there is little value in being a 'wage-slave'. (Except growing SSI )
If you have adequate cash flows and reserves _ inclination to live to age 82+.. I can see delaying SSI... & SPENDING (qualified $$) at age 59.5 (while healthy), and paying back the previous spend (age 60 - age 70) ... (refilling retirement savings) with increased SSI amounts post age 70. Spend now, die later.
Or... collect at age 62 and be a very good investor and make more than 5-8% on your SSI early payments.
Life is a crapshoot.
Play to win.
You will not always be right, but some formula will be right for you and your family.
Way too many friends have already 'checked-out' (Pre-age 60)
Ssi is a welfare program... why are you discussing ssi ? It has nothing to do with retirement social security
Not disagreeing with you. Another benefit of waiting till max age to collect SS is that during the intervening years, you are contributing to a Roth with employer match. Given my Roth dividends (currently re-invested), by age 70 SS I will prospectively have the option of getting tax-free dividend income of $1.5K/mo. As a realist, I know I should re-invest 50% of that as an inflation/tax increase cushion.
We all know that "man plans, God laughs"! I can think of any number of scenarios where Roth dividends, reinvested, won't yield the desired result.
Regardless, I looovvve me some tax-free income.
Again ,these discussions are not about working longer and delaying .. they are only about those who retire at 62 and have a choice as to when to file ..
Working longer or not is a whole other discussion with totally different pros and cons
It basically it a wash with regards to how much income you collect from SSA whether you file at age 62 or 70. With one variable, life expectancy.
If you have a serious medical condition or conditions which medical experts tell you will result in a shortened life expectancy, then you should file at 62 based on this known issue.
If you are convinced that you will live beyond the average life expectancy value of 85 years, for whatever reason, then wait until you are 70. But remember, you could step off a curb and be run over by a bus at age 69-1/2 regardless of your genetic and family history.
And don't forget the 'gotchas'.
If you choose to delay until age 70 you must have other investments or income streams sufficient to sustain you until that age. This alone precludes many from waiting.
If you file early you must have other income to compensate for the permanent reduction in your early benefits.
Don't be like my M-I-L and file at 62, convinced her SSA benefit would automatically increase at age 65.
As I demonstrated above either way has the ability to hit the same balances ...statistically early ss and investing stands better odds of doing better then betting on longevity does ...
Most people would stand a better chance of seeing a 5-6% real return roi on the money they left invested in a balanced fund by taking ss early vs having to live to 90-95 to see the same 5-6% real return spending down those assets delaying 8 years .
There are some who need to wait financially but to those that want to hold on for a few dollars more, why gamble your life against the opportunity to retire and start enjoying your remaining years.
I am currently age 62.4 and still employed full time in a 7:30-4:00 at a desk nursing job working for the Federal Government. When I was age 44 my 49 year old husband died suddenly from a heart attack. We were ages 29 and 34 when we married and although we wanted them we could not have children. Other than being childless we were very typical of couples in that age range working hard to buy or build homes, paying off student debt (my husband), and in a nutshell lived very work centric lives and our time off from work along with a good part of our income was focused on our home and not on leisure activities. So me becoming a widow at age 44 not only changed every aspect of my life it very much changed my outlook on life and how I would live it going forward. So essentially although I still had to work, my life outside of work was not much different than the life of a retiree which included clicking off many things on my retirement bucket list while still working because I learned the hard way that tomorrow is not a given for anyone. And in choosing to live this lifestyle meant I had to fund it and at the same time fund my retirement. And to accomplish this meant that I would have to work a few years past 62 to have the retirement income I needed to continue the lifestyle I enjoy and have absolutely no regrets in making this choice. I consider myself very fortunate that not only did I make it to 62 especially since I am now a 15 year cancer survivor, I arrived with a pretty much empty bucket list. And if I am fortunate to live to a very old age working a few more years will provide me income that will likely outlive me which would not happen if I were to retire now.
Life is all about choices and what is the best choice for one may not be the best for another.
Working longer is a whole other discussion ... I retired 4 years ago but I have so many things I enjoy doing that I get paid for that a good part of my week day is committed to these things ..
I still devote one day a week to teaching motor controls and drives for my old company which I enjoy so much I would do it free .
I got back in to my drumming again big time and have been playing on a pro level once more with some well known recording artists .
Then there is our photography hobby which is actually a little business but it comes out of nothing we would not do free .. so not all work is work
As I demonstrated above either way has the ability to hit the same balances ...statistically early ss and investing stands better odds of doing better then betting on longevity does ...
Not just longevity, but also vitality.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
