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Dear sweet Balloonlady, I tried to rep you again. But I have already repped you too many times, it seems.
I guess I should update my profile.
Last week was my fortieth anniversary. I have only been married once.
We live in a house that I built myself with extremely limited contracted help. We have grid power available, though our house is on solar power. We live fairly rural in dense forest. I have 150 acres of land with a quarter-mile of river frontage. We are very active with our local Organic Food, off-grid, survivalist communities, my wife and I have both been vendors at roadside farmer's markets. I am a beekeeper, we breed a herd of pigs, and we produce a wide assortment of fruits, veggies, herbs, maple and honey.
We have an apartment building in town, we set our rent at 23% of Minimum-Wage [our rent includes heat and utilities] because we feel that is the proper way to treat our fellow man.
We are very active in our church and we volunteer at food pantries and distributing food to shut-ins every week.
My wife started her SS benefit three months ago. Since we are already very comfortable on my pension income, she has begun giving 100% of her SS benefit to a non-profit food pantry where she volunteers.
I must admit I am not as generous as she is, I started my SS benefit this Summer, so far I have spent it on toys.
In the 1980s and 1990s TriCare came in three levels. Basic, Regular and Prime.
If you refused to pay an enrollment fee then you got Basic, which allowed a servicemember to go anywhere in the nation for equal low-quality access to medical care. Mostly just for ER access, no Primary Care Physicians.
If you agree to pay an annual enrollment fee and low co-pays then you would be in Regular, which would get you some ability to schedule appointments, and maybe access to a specialist.
If you agreed to pay the highest tier then it got you into Prime. This is when you could get a PCP and make appointments. But it was only good for within the state where you reside. they warned us if we were ever going to travel, we needed to disenroll from Prime and go back to the Basic tier, so if we got hurt on vacation we would have the option to use a local ER.
It was all done in regions, four regions in the US.
In about 2000, they decided having regional Prime sub-contractors was too expensive so three of the regions were shut down. Only in New England did Prime live on. It had been sub-contracted out to a company called Martins Point. Somehow they had managed to embed themselves into the hospital networks of New England.
So while the other three regions have lost their Prime, it lives on in New England as Martins Point.
I use them and every time I call a doctors office the response I get from the staff has consistently been that Martins Point is their preferred insurance provider. I think because they quibble less over charges and they pay faster than any other insurance provider.
Twice I have called them to ask if I could see a doctor that was not in their network, both times within two days I have gotten a return call to say that X doctor is now in their network and I am welcome to begin scheduling appointments.
That’s not quite correct. We live in Florida and have Prime, and it is good anywhere we travel. The two regions are now East and West, and the programs are Tricare Prime, Tricare Select and Tricare for life.
How far down would you spend your assets in order to delay Soc. Sec to 67 -- or even 70?
I guess the question is: *Can* you spend down assets to defer taking early social security and if yes, would you do so to reach FRA (full retirement age for filing for SS benefits) or later?
- Some people cannot readily afford to defer.
- Some can afford to defer, but don't believe they'll live long enough to make deferral a good option.
- Some feel compelled to start getting their SS benefits as soon as they're eligible, for reasons besides longevity factors.
- Some can afford to wait until they reach FRA and decide to do just that, or even wait longer.
I fall into the 4th bucket; my plan is to wait until FRA to start claiming SS, and no earlier than age 65 if starting before FRA. Deferring beyond FRA is not something I'm expecting to do, but that bridge will get crossed at the time.
I guess the question is: *Can* you spend down assets to defer taking early social security and if yes, would you do so to reach FRA (full retirement age for filing for SS benefits) or later?
- Some people cannot readily afford to defer.
- Some can afford to defer, but don't believe they'll live long enough to make deferral a good option.
- Some feel compelled to start getting their SS benefits as soon as they're eligible, for reasons besides longevity factors.
- Some can afford to wait until they reach FRA and decide to do just that, or even wait longer.
I fall into the 4th bucket; my plan is to wait until FRA to start claiming SS, and no earlier than age 65 if starting before FRA. Deferring beyond FRA is not something I'm expecting to do, but that bridge will get crossed at the time.
That is the call my wife and I are making as well. She will more than likely take hers at FRA while I will postpone until 70 or something changes.
Many who think they will delay when thinking about it in advance hypothetically who can afford to delay like I did , will find when real time comes and they are laying out the ss money while markets are raging upward that their brain will talk them out of delaying when that check is knocking on your door going use me instead .
What we think we will do in hypothetical terms can and usually is very different once the conditions are real .
Jason zweig Proved that in his book your money your brain.
Fidelity had worked up our ss plan when we helped them beta test their new in house maximizing ss software .
It was very complex ..
Since my wife is older then me the software came up with :
She was collecting since 62 ..at her fra she would do a stop …her benefit would grow to 70 ..i would be delaying all this time too .
At 70 she would refile
I would be 68-1/2 and I would file for half hers …
At 70 I would file for mine and she would get a spousal adder to hers…
So it was a pretty elaborate plan but it dropped the ball with integrating it with our portfolio and also taxes …..
So they took the software out of use as they realized now it is not just getting the most from ss when there are so many other factors at play .
But that whole plan went the way side once I cleared the earnings cap and could file and not give back money from my one day of work.
I dont regret filing at 65 and not delaying for a second even though I will be going on 70 now
Last edited by mathjak107; 12-23-2021 at 04:59 AM..
Without information about all the financial details that make up a person's life, the variables, their income, their portfolio, their other benefits, their taxes, their status, making pronouncements about what others will do or should do, is a complete waste of time.
No two people's situations are identical, and what one person or couple did, is irrelevant to the priorities and optimal choices for someone else.
Everyone has to do their own planning, or work with a qualified professional to determine their retirement options and formulate a plan that takes all the variables into account.
Yes, but I hope people can also learn from the experiences, considerations and thought processes of others.
May plan to take Soc Sec. at 63 (FRA 67) -- but I can't think of everything. And I haven't lived as long as those who've gone down the Soc. Sec road a head of me.
For example, I haven't done the analysis that Mathjack has done, or I haven't lived retired as long as Submariner. But I can learn from their experiences and wisdom.....which I greatly appreciate.
Exactly. It's research and calculations that, IMO, should be done dispassionately with all information available and a good amount of guesswork on future returns, future inflation, etc. I believe all this talk of emotion or sounds great but things rarely work out or can you really follow through has no place in retirement planning, it's about the math and best guesses on missing variables.
Spock for the win.
Yes, without emotion I THINK that I should delay taking SS until 70 unless:
#1 I am disabled and not working
#2 Have been Dx'd with Stage 4 Cancer
The trouble is, with my SS Spreadsheet where I simply calculate total amount collected based on start year... ..and I don't calculate taxes or other criteria... I am only ahead by $27k by waiting between 67 and 70 if I die at 84. The other problem is that the SS Actuarial Life Table tells me at 67 I have 19 years to live (86) and at 77 I have almost 12 years to live (89). At my current age it has me living to 84.
Like I said getting to FRA is most meaningful if I die by 82'ish and FRA to 70 is most meaningful if I died 85+.
The longer you live the longer you are expected to live. None of us know how long we are going to live (unless we are actively dying, which makes the decision of when to file a no brainer). An friend of a friend was Dx'd with Stage 4 lung cancer and SS had a 6 month wait period. She worked full time her entire life as a high wage earner and collected exactly 1 month of SS before dying. And, I realize many never collect anything.
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Let's get our verbiage straightened out. Per the SS website you can only "Delay" between FRA and 70. If you take SS before FRA you are "Taking a Reduced Benefit."
Delayed Retirement Credits
Social Security retirement benefits are increased by a certain percentage for each month you delay starting your benefits beyond full retirement age.
The benefit increase stops when you reach age 70.
Workers planning for their retirement should be aware that retirement benefits depend on age at retirement. If a worker begins receiving benefits before his/her normal (or full) retirement age, the worker will receive a reduced benefit. A worker can choose to retire as early as age 62, but doing so may result in a reduction of as much as 30 percent.
Starting to receive benefits after normal retirement age may result in larger benefits. With delayed retirement credits, a person can receive his or her largest benefit by retiring at age 70.
n the case of early retirement, a benefit is reduced 5/9 of one percent for each month before normal retirement age, up to 36 months. If the number of months exceeds 36, then the benefit is further reduced 5/12 of one percent per month.
For example, if the number of reduction months is 60 (the maximum number for retirement at 62 when normal retirement age is 67), then the benefit is reduced by 30 percent. This maximum reduction is calculated as 36 months times 5/9 of 1 percent plus 24 months times 5/12 of 1 percent.
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