Suspending Social Security Benefits (55, pension, spouse, state)

[LauraC]

'For every year between full retirement age and 70 that recipients delay taking benefits, the Social Security Administration will increase their monthly benefit checks by 8%.'

Article ends with Q & A from readers.

More on Suspending Social Security - WSJ.com

[Paka]

So now I guess you just need to figure out your odds of living those additional years to make it pay off...if you are healthy and swimming in the correct gene pool, that is a great deal.

[nicet4]

Originally Posted by Paka

So now I guess you just need to figure out your odds of living those additional years to make it pay off...if you are healthy and swimming in the correct gene pool, that is a great deal.

I am seriously thinking of doing that not for me but for my wife.

At 66 I am projected to receive around $1800 and my wife should get $900 social security and $300 from a small state pension. $3000 a month and we should be able to live comfortably but should I die she loses her ss, taks mine and will receive $2100. I am worried on this.

Yes, we have IRA's and other retirement savings but I am structuring our retirement as if we didn't have those savings.

If I work just four more years my ss benefit should be around $2400 a month... an extra $600 a month which for a lady living on her own can make a world of difference.

[Ketabcha]

Nicet4,

Actually, she will retain her own SSA benes and an amount of yours will be added to hers to bring it up to the $2100.00. She will retain her Medicare with her SSN and an "A" after it. All her correspondence from the agency will have her SSN on it. She made enough under SSA to qualifiy as a primary and she will continue to be the primary.

Check to make sure that her SSA won't be offset by receipt of a state pension. When you call tell them you need info about "windfall offset" and "GPO." (government pension offset).

[texdav]

From what I read she will get the larger amount of either yours or hers if you die. Same with you if she dies.

[mathjak107]

i wrote this before but it bears repeating:

as far as taking social security,ill wait as long as i can.. heres my thought:

for evey year i wait its like getting an extra 8% raise...
forget the old school thinking about what if i die or what age will i break even..thats thinking from our parents generation

current thinking is if you have the resourses(assets) to delay taking it, instead of say withdrawing 4% of your inflation adjusted nest egg each year take say 6% right from day 1... why?

because if you live long enough to collect you have the comfort of knowing your nest egg will be replenished with about 30% more in payments later on refilling the extra dough your pulling out now so you have more money each year while your still healthy and able to enjoy alot of things you may not be able to do later on..

think of it as almost as if your buying an annuity with the money you lay out between 62 and 70 that will give you or your spouse a lifetime of higher payments...

your nest egg will be refilled starting at age 70 with a much larger stream of money and that will go on forever...

to me its not about dying with the biggest pile of money but rather living the best darn life we can while we can.


to me retirement isnt about surviving and getting by... its about enjoying the fruits of a lifetime of work,savings and sacrafice and living better now then before

[nancy thereader]

I know that is how many people think and that it is probably a smart thing to do , but I just took the money as soon as I could which was the max for someone who was just 62 . Look at poor Farrah Fawcett who is just my age. We never know what the future might hold for us.

For me, it was just take the money and run..........

[mathjak107]

Again its not about hoping you live long enough to collect at 70, its about being able to spend more of your own nest egg right at age 62 then you otherwise would be able to because if you do live a very long time you wont run out of money because you will have a way way larger payment kick in at 70 replenishing your nest egg at a higher rate..


its all about being able to draw more right from day 1, not about betting will you live long enough to collect?

instead of a 4% withdrawl rate a year by taking ss at 62 wouldnt it be nice to have 50% more of a withdrawl rate right at age 62 by waiting to collect at 70??

its win win, you get to spend more and do more of the things you like to do when your younger and healthier because you can spend more of your savings if you wait, and if you die ? well then you dont have to worry about collecting ha ha but if your spouse survives you she will get a bigger check...


the problem is folks think only in terms of living log enough to collect at 70 instead of thinking outside the box and saying im going to spend alot more prior to age 70 because if i do live long enough to collect ill have whopper of a check coming in....its the cheapest annuity you can buy... no annuity can come close to what waiting costs vs buying an annuity to kick in at age 70 for the same amount

[marmac]

Originally Posted by nancy thereader

I know that is how many people think and that it is probably a smart thing to do , but I just took the money as soon as I could which was the max for someone who was just 62 . Look at poor Farrah Fawcett who is just my age. We never know what the future might hold for us.

For me, it was just take the money and run..........

I drew at age 62 also
10 years ago I would have said --"never"-- to drawing early.

The grind of working and seeing employers demand more and more with no extra wage increase, more being called in on short notice, more being switched around on working schedules------enough !

I worked hard since age 17, made good wages, worked unusual shifts, but the SS benefits at age 62 were too good to pass up.

Now, 2 years later, I have no regrets whatsoever.

[annerk]

This is all using the probable fallacy about social security continuing indefinitely. You actually need to plan retirement as if it's not going to be there for you, and if it is, consider it bonus money.