At what age did you file, its sneaking up on me.

The later you file the more you will make. People try to do this mumbo jumbo about taking a smaller amount but getting it earlier, but to me, the more you get, in the end, the easier things will go for you. That may mean 66+ what ever the magic number is for you. Even 70 YO you get more. Go down and talk to them. You say it's creeping up I'm not sure what that means to you. Some people are tied to a certain age for a pension or retirement. Everything you can get is good.

I retired at 61 and started SS at 66 which was my full retirement age. Everyone has a different situation.

The year after I turned 70.5

Compare 62 to 66. At 66 you get more but look at how much you didn't get between 62 and 66. Last time I checked the figures, if you waited until 66 you'd have to live to 80 to recover what you didn't get during those years.

I have never considered it in my retirement plans. I am 56 so I shall see,

Do the arithmetic. ,determine the break even age in dollars. If you expect to live longer than the break even point,delay your application.


I drew at 62, the earliest time possible and have to draw to 78 to s"break even".

You’re such an arrogant dick.

Thats why my folks started as soon as they could.

Indeed.

If there is a chance you will be working as a senior, forget about taking it until you are +66 or you will be penalized if you earn too much. If waiting until your full social security date you can earn as much as you want without penalty.

Another tip, if you keep working full time as a senior don't roll your 401k into an IRA. When working full time after age 70 1/2 you can keep all of it in your 401k, but money in an IRA will be subjected to mandatory withdrawals according to the IRS formula.

Smartest post you’ve ever made. Your sig line Is the definition of irony.

I started mine at 62. Glad I did. Had a very good friend 5 years older than me who waited until he was 65 to draw his. He unexpectedly died about 2 1/2 months later. I fully expected for him to attend my funeral instead of me attending his. Three months later, I attended his father's funeral. He was almost 100. His mother is still alive. She is in her mid to late 90s now.

My wife started hers are 63, I am planning for it at 67 so for me another 3 years

Depends on your situation, are you still working? I am 63 and still working at a good paying job. If I took Social Security now I would not get a dime. The longer you can wait the more you will get. It is a trade off, how long will you live to collect? I will wait until I retire from my present job, trying to maximize my payout. If health decides I retire sooner then I will file for Social Security right away.

sign up https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/
and view your benefit at different years.

The real question is would you rather get a little now, or more later. If you don't need it why rush. I can tell you for a fact, you will appreciate the more money later. Prices rise over time, but SS doesn't.

You should do comedy. Really.

Coming from a professional azzhole, I’ll take that for what it’s worth.

My ss has been adjusted for "inflation" but not near enough

I started drawing at 62. I retired at age 46 and have other sources of income. SS income is icing on the cake.

Hot soup

Careful, sand illy may be watching. LOL

For those who are married, something that may or may not make a difference as to whether or not to postpone filing for SS retirement benefits, is a spouse, upon reaching their retirement age, has the option of drawing approx.1/2 of primary recipients SS benefit amount in lieu of their own, based on which ever is the larger of the two.

Also, upon the primary's death a surviving spouse can draw 100% of the primary's benefit amount in lieu of their own SS benefit, again, based on which is the larger.

Point being upon the death of either spouse, depending on their financial situation, there will be what could amount to a substantial reduction in total household income with the loss of the deceased SS benefit, therefore the longer one can postpone filing for SS benefits the more income a surviving spouse will have.

(ex spouses of 10 or more years marriage also qualify to receive SS retirement benefits from a previous marriage, too).

At 62 - I'd have lost money - I make too much.
My sister (CPA) says "take it at 66+ - if you put the money into an interest bearing account, you'll come out ahead at around age 75"
If you're paying a mortgage, or other loan - you'd be even MORE better off applying the money there.

Great thread. I’m torn, I’d like to wait till 66 as we shouldn’t need the income. But I have this fear they’re gonna change the rules and means test it here in the near future. I’d really like to get some of my $ back. Self employed so 15% for over 30 years.

They do give a signifianct bump at 66, damn sharp penciled guys. They know enough of us will die between 62-66 that it’s worth it to them

62 I get 1800 a month wife 62 got 900

That is not my experience when chatting with Ed, to the contrary in fact.

I will file next year at 63 1/2.

Jack, How many years do you figure on living?

I waited til 66 to get full benefit. My family has lived into 80s and 90s. I also was keeping my insurance. I also waited until my previous year bonus was paid. We are each different. Do your calculations. Before you draw.

Good idea, but hard for most to do, due to the fact that the more you make in retirement, the more social security you have to pay back in income tax. They use some type of convoluted formula to calculate that amount. Hard to follow going step by step each year when doing taxes, much less trying to figure on future income. Mine runs between 20% and 25% every year so far. So in a way, they are already doing means testing. miles

My father retired at 65. 2 months later he died. Figured this wasn't going to happen to me so i retired at 62. Took a big cut in SS but i am getting by 10 years later.

Don't sweat it, arrogance is his best trait.

62

I retired from Ford Motor Co in 2003 at the age of 56. In an effort to reduce salaried headcount back then, my "package" was to bridge the difference between of the SS retirement I would have lost from 56 until I turned 62. So after 6 years of retirement I chose a slight reduced SS rate versus waiting until 65 or 66 - whichever it was.

I was already in contributory retirement which is a $400+ a month supplement plus I was receiving a $533 retirement bonus for the 3 year split off to Visteon. I was in the maximum 15% tax efficient savings account, and because of the reduced amount of taxes, my take home during retirement was a few dollar more than when I was working. However, the Medicare Prescription Drug, and Supplemental insurance is a helluva lot more now than it was in 2003!

So much depends on your personal situation. My finances at 62 weren't quite where they needed to be to retire then. Then, at 64, my job was eliminated. I took another job planning on retiring at 66. However, I couldn't stand that job so I decided to retire at 65. I lost a little by not working 1 more year but my sanity was taking a hit and it was time to go. I haven't regretted it for a minute. I'll be 70 this summer when I could max it out, but if I'd stayed there, I'd be in a nuthouse now.

Age 66, but being self employed, going on Medicare at 65 was a bigger help.
Not to side track the thread.

Yep...theres only one dick in this exchange, and its not Ed....


On topic, draw at 62...

Got to say Ingwe, that is one hell of a memory you have there!

I took it at 62. One of those situations. No debt and plenty of toys. No wife. Living is fairly easy.

retired at 59

SS at 62........

If they do institute means testing I would be willing to bet that it will be applied to people already collecting. I think they will most likely raise the retirement age first. I don't think they are to eager to implement a policy that says we are going to take money from you for your retirement but never actually give any of it back to you. The flack they will receive makes me think means testing will be a measure of last resort. Just my opinion on it.

If you somehow really need the money at 62, then take it.

If you can wait longer and survive on what you're made/making, then wait until after 66.

I will be 66 in 9 months, I’m taking mine then. I may work another year, then start taking my teachers retirement. My Social Security will be penalized 449.00 for having teachers retirement, but my teachers retirement will pay more than twice the max amount of social security.

I retired at 60 then took the late wife's ss at 62 to let mine build for a few years. The increase for mine I figured worked out to about $5.00 a month extra if I waited. They nail you for earned income like $.50 on a dollar if you make more than a certain amount in your mid 60's if you are taking ss. After like age 68 or 70 that penalty goes away and you can earn as much as you want to. Rent income isn't considered earned income for some reason. You can un-retire if you want to if you find that you want/need to go back working again and your ss builds again when you don't take it. I talked with a woman that un-retired four times.

Some very helpful responses here, to a guy asking a very useful question. Good Campfire stuff. Then too, there is a dose of he usual weirdo junk.
With SS, I decided to wait as long as possible to maximize the return and then, unexpectedly, provided health insurance was going to end. So, Medicare was a solution that coincided with a suitable enrollment age. Received excellent advice from EdM. Signed up at age 79.

I didn't think public school teachers in Texas paid SS. That's what I was told by a teacher I know. I started drawing SS at 66 and worked occasionally for several years after. I don't remember any SS penalty in fact they bumped my SS up a little because of the SS taxes I paid while working.

I retired two years ago at 59.5yrs old once my retirement pay equaled my take home pay.I'm turning 62yrs old in October this year and plan on taking my S.S. then.That will put my total income higher than any gross salary year I ever had when I was working.Everybody's situation is different,but I am grateful of the decisions I made in life at a young age and thankful for how it worked out for me.

I retired at 57 and took SS at 62.i figured get it while you still can rather than wait and maybe get nothing.A friend of mine since grade school waited until 70 and collected one check and died.

I have been talking with a financial advisor who suggested that my SS should be considered the taxes I will pay on retitement and provide our health care savings account. So it will not really be spendable money every month for living expenses anyway. Although that will eliminate the stress on health care expenses. Retitement savings will be taxed as its drawn out. His opinion was that the 33k in SS per year will cover that and the Health care costs for two of us. This is at 65 anyway, I may bail sooner but it's an easy stress free ride at the moment with plenty of vacation time so I'm crusing through these last few years til I get to the point I'm just done with this.

I paid Social security for 20 years before I started putting money into teachers retirement. Teachers in Texas for the most part don’t pay into social security. A few do. Teachers retirement is a way better deal. I will leave with 70% of my best 3 years salary. We worked a lot of overtime, which helped my average a bunch.

The SSA utilizes actuarial tables, in theory no matter what age you begin to receive benefits, it all averages out....

I'm not retired yet but have been doing a little research.

I think the answers are:
* Do you need the money now?
* How long does your family typically live?
* How good are your investments?

Currently there's a sliding scale with benefits increasing if you delay. For me I would start at 70% at age 62, 100% at age 67 (what they call full retirement) and 124% at age 70 (delayed retirement); which works out to about 7.5% annual IF you wait until 70. You can easily calculate how long it takes to make up the difference if you delay. When I get close I'll look at how my investments are doing but right now I'm leaning towards delaying because; my family has long life spans, I shouldn't need the money, and the rate of return for delaying is better than many investments.

Here are a couple links based on being born in 1960:
https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/1960.html
https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/1960-delay.html

Good luck with retirement!

Think you better go to SS admin page and read up. I retired at 62, during that time it was SS gigged you 1 dollar for every 2 that you went over 15,000 bucks in Wages. That has been changed to 1 for every 3 over 16,500 in wages. As far as the earnings cap, that goes away in the last calendar year that you reach full retirement age(65/66/67 etc.) If you were born in December then you can work as much as you want from Jan 1. Of that year. They consider calendar year from Jan. 1 - Dec. 31.
If you decide to go back to work full time after 66, then you may either suspend payment or keep receiving it.

I’m

Totally agree, retired at 53 & took SS at 62. Gonna be 80 in (10) days; hope to get all I contributed!!!

Montanabadger: Unless you can see into the future (and I am assuming you can't!) do what I did and start collecting it the instant you are eligible!
PERIOD!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I would consider that good planning. Hasbeen

Reading Edm's posts the past 8 years I saw that he was willing to work hard, move a lot, work overseas and save and invest in his future.

I've noticed a lot of people who have little money saved when they reach retirement age were not willing to relocate for work, obtain additional education, not put money away for investment and waste money on new shcit they dont need. Im amazed at work how many wont even put in 401k to get matching from employer because they say they cant afford it.

Im collecting as soon as I am eligible at 62 but I didn't factor it into my retirement. Hope to retire end of year at 56. Might work part time in retirement. My major concern is maintaining good health as I age. I don't need a ton of money to be happy. I'm downsizing now.

The way the system is set up,they are playing the odds you will die before collecting too much.Some people have no choice but to wait longer because the cost to survive these days is so high.

^^^^^^^
This. Would also depend if your "retired" or not. For my age group full retirement age was 66. Before that they would factor down what you got depending on how much you earned, At 66 and after it didn't make any difference how much I earned. So I started collecting it when I turned 66 and retired when I was 68.

https://www.ssa.gov/planners/taxes.html

Started at 62. Because I’ll be damn lucky to see 65. And it would be an out and out miracle if I hit Seven-O.

Je ne regrette rien !!!

I’ll probably die after I get my first check.

The wife says people plan and God laughs. We both retired at 61 and took our social insecurity at 62. We watch what we spend and life is good!

Excellent summation. Truth is no one knows how long we are going to live. I've been dealing with heart issues currently at 67. My mother is alive at 88 and has been dealing with heart issues since age 44. I'm willing to gamble. I may die on the table next Wednesday, but I'm not so greedy that I think I'm going to miss something. I make more SS than the wife so she can pass on hers and get mine. It's all good.

Rock Chuck, that is correct. Any govt agency website and even commercial ones like Motley Fool will try to convince you to wait. Fancy that, .gov telling you should wait longer to get what's yours.

Hopefully, it won't be gone by the time you get there, Ed.

In the early 1960s, my grandfather lived on the $100/ month social security and saved money in the Seattle area.

Now in 2018, the property tax on a home in the Seattle area takes up half my social security. Jeff Bezos flew over Seattle in a B52 and bombed the place with money.

I started collecting at 66.

24HCF is a good place to ask about social security.

I'll be 64 in a little over a month. Have not put in for SS yet. Don't really "need" it yet, but concerned about our fearsome leaders starting another run at SS.

BTW- who is doing means testing on these ball polishers in Congress?

Best line on this thread......

Lots of old people on here.

62 so they didn't give it to someone that doesn't hablo!

I won't live long enough to regret taking it early, if I live that long at all.

my mom started on the first day available as a 62 year old. she's 95 and kickin' along. she never regretted her decision.

i started at 67, and the ss rep gave me all kinds of mumbo-jumbo, paybacks, rates of return, etc. etc. you name it, they got it.

i don't regret waiting to 67 for a minute. i did have to write a check for medicare beginning at age 65.

I started at 66, even though I am still working. My rationale was it would be easier to keep me from collecting down the road than to kick me off once I'm collecting.

I am banking every dime of it. I can work as long as I want to, I am not breaking rocks. My wife is too young for Medicare so employer paid healthcare is a BIG plus.

that was the one factor i had in the back of my mind while obama et al were in the whitehouse. i was wondering if he was gonna pull the trigger. i guess he was afraid to, or just didn't have the votes.

anyways, now it's more of a moot point than it was then. i'm glad i waited, but there is a big unknown in determining the best time to sign up, and we all know it.

had a friend who retired at 65, drew one ss check before kicking the bucket.

in a sense, we are gaming the system when trying to figure when best to sign up for ss.

There is a lot of information here. Some is accurate some is not. Rules have changed recently so go to a trusted professional to weigh your options because everyone has a different situation.

I've crunched the numbers and will start at 62. I don't need the money to get by, I have a pension and some money saved. But to get full benefits I'd have to wait almost 5 years. If I start at 62 I can have $100K in the bank before I could even start drawing if I wait until I'm 66 years 8 months. I'd have to live to 80 just to break even. Chances are good based on my family history that I will make it into my 80's. But I ain't taking any chances. If I die before 80, I come out ahead by taking it at 62. If I live past 80 I won't give a damn. I can use the money in my 60's and 70's a lot more than in my 80's.

yes, there is that. i thought about it a lot's, and tossed & turned a bit. every person's decision is their own (in consultation with significant others). still, it doesn't hurt to solicit professional advice, knowing the final decision is still going to be yours. they can at least help to evaluate the pro's and con's of various choices, and perhaps most importantly make one feel good about their final choice.

and the ss field agents, not easy to get ahold of, but can be helpful in outlining in a clinical fashion what the alternatives are.

gaming the system has been going on nearly forever. no need to stop now.

My wife and I will both start taking it next year (66 and some months). We decided that this year would be devoted to taking the maximum amount of capital gains at the zero percent rate we so didn't want to be affected by the tax on the 85% of SS this year. When we started working in the 70s, we presumed that SS would not exist at our retirement age, so never factored SS into our retirement planning and savings. Consequently, it will all be an unexpected bonus.

Was wondering , those of you who retired at 62 , what did you do for insurance ? just curious because I was told that I had to wait till 66 get medical benefits , that is why I am still working .
Kenneth

for some, go on medicare at age 65, if not on ss at the time, pay out of pocket. once ss kicks in later, they'll deduct from the ss payout is my understanding. that's the way it worked with me. sometimes checks get lost in the mail, etc. it's a good system, but not perfect.

I'm taking it at 62 (if you still can then) for 2 reasons, first I have a pension and investments and second, my ol' man died at 61. By then I hope to already have a place on a trout stream somewhere.

That was and is my fear. With it being so underfunded, I think some day they will say “you don’t need it so we will stop or reduce yours and give it to someone that that needs it”

I'am not either, I am 55. If its still there in another 10 years then good.

Kenneth66: I retired at age 50!
I made some "good" decisions long ago about career choices and business investments to help me with retirement.
I then started collecting my "social security" benefits at age 62.
My choices (made previously and with some modest sacrifices) now (and since I was age 50) has me covered 100% for medical, 100% for prescriptions, 100% for optical, 100% for dental, 100% for assisted care living, 100% for nursing home care - and since I turned 65 the medical supplement insurance I chose (invested in!) reimburses me at the end of the year for the $120.00 per month that "medicare" subtracts from my social security check. I get that reimbursement ($1,440.00) at the end of each year right in time to help with the Christmas/New Years holidays!
My advice to anyone is don't rely completely on "social security" for your retirement.
You will have to have (pay for yourself!) health insurance to the extent you choose for coverage if you retire (quit working) at age 62. Medicare kicks in at age 65 and DOES NOT pay 100% (or anywhere near that!) of your various medical, medicine bills!
The health insurances I invested in covered me right up to age 65 and the supplemental system I invested in covers what medicare doesn't (A LOT!) since I went on Medicare at age 65.
I tell you its a good feeling not to have to worry about any type of medical, dental, optical, medicinal bills and the Medicare monthly payments!
I will repeat - I strongly suggest everyone starts collecting their "social security" benefits the instant they qualify for them.
I won't even begin to go over the long list of friends, relatives, workmates and acquaintances I know who did NOT make it to their FIRST "social security" check - having paid into "social security" all their working lives!
By the way you do not have to quit working to begin collecting your "social security" benefits.
The VarmintWife (who is a workaholic and retired once 21 years ago and then went BACK to work 20 years ago!) began collecting social security at age 62. She was penalized three months worth of "social security" each year until she turned 66 (last month!) and now she works penalty free and collects her "social security" fully.
If you have questions I suggest paying for professional help in figuring out all the ins and outs of "social security".
Personally I don't think "social security" is very "secure" and that is another reason to begin collecting your benefits the instant you are eligible!
Best of luck to you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Well, maybe good, maybe bad (to some) but I retired at 60 (and 6 weeks).
The old body was breaking down from decades of 12 hour shifts and years of working a second job when I was working 8 hour ones.

Ex and I had split 9 years previously. She passed away from the Big C and when checking to see if our son could get any of her SS we found out the only person who could draw anything .......was me (married over 10, neither remarried) and could do so at 60. I was only a few months short of that when she passed away. It wasn't a full draw but when a company I worked for wanted to buy out my pension on top of that I said "Heck with these 12 hour night shifts. I'm too old for this ####".

Now I'm drawing on my SS so I got a "raise", lol.
Some would be wise to wait if they are in good health and have home etc paid off and HAVE something to leave the kids. Just my 2 cents.

MY thoughts, on both the SS and pension was that "sooner is better than MAYBE more later" (if alive). If I dropped dead my two boys (more than one marriage, not saying how many, lol) wouldn't get squat if drawing SS and pension, so I cashed out and bought a country home, cash on the barrel head, with a few acres............to leave them.

IN the meantime.........it's all paid for. Seems like it took a long time to get there for this standard factory worker. Others here are more blessed and have home paid for earlier in life. That in itself is a boon. If renting an apartment (multiple divorces are EXpensive, emphasis on the EX ,lol ).........cashing in early was the only deal that made sense to me. SS check isnt huge, but I have ZERO bills but overhead so....it works. Even got gun money occasionally if I dont eat out all the time, lol.

Situations just have to be looked at individually. My own was a no brainer, IMO.

God Bless and best of luck
Steve

If looking at a supplemental insurance to Medicare, take a good long look at Plan G. Plan F pays ALL the rest but cost me (smoker) 65 dollars a month more (780 annually) . G pays ALL "except the 183 dollar Plan B deductible" once a year. Another no brainer for me. I've had multiple MRIs, Xrays, two surgeries, two more coming. All paid, no issues. Not all insurance companies carry it but Aetna BCBS does.......for now. I read in a report both G and F might be "unavailable" in the near future. 136 a month is cheap if you have health issues and doc's told me for decades what was coming. No fun.....but......doable now financially. A friend has had both a heart transplant and kidney transplant. Paid for in full.

I understand folks saying take it right away at 62, but I am still working and would not due to income restriction's get a dime of Social Security. If one is not working and their income is tax deferred or not taxed then yes collect it. That is not my situation at present. EACH situation is different, and the best way to go forward is up to that unique situation.

Just been through this, paid COBRA rate for the first year after retiring. Rolled the dice the next 2 years since my wife was covered.
Medicare offers a 90 day window for enrollment at age 65. 30 days before and 30 days after your BDay. Part A is free. Part B and D must be enrolled in this 90 day window or you are gigged on down the road. Once enrolled B&D are deducted from your SS payout.

You might want a supplement like G to pay what A and B don’t cover. Costs me 119.00 a month.

My mother turned 100 in December. She retired at 62 so she's been drawing it for 38 years. She's one of the infamous 'notch babies'. If you're not familiar with that, google will bring up lots of info. Congress has been debating a fix for nearly 50 years now and still no solution. I guess they're waiting for them to all die off. The IRS says there's not an issue (figures) but many SSI recipients say there is.

Randy you may be right about your assumption, but I don't believe for a minute that applies to you or even me. I think your wife took too good of care of you for you to die early. Nothing wrong with getting the bigger lump of money monthly. People that take SS early, planned poorly IMO. I think the lower offering came from someone that knows most people live pay check to pay check and they are right. Nothing wrong if you need to but I just think the other is better. People are still living to older and older ages. Sure some people have bad genetics, and smoked all their lives and such, but my mom is still kicking at 88. I expect to get every bit of my share of my money.

At 47, I think about this a lot. I see guys still working where I do in their late 60s and some early 70s. That wont be me. Lord willing im going at 62. A smoker, Lyme, thyroid...I may not hit the mark. But if I do im gone. Ill have a nice pension, insurance paid from 62-65. Rent now, but planning on buying a house by next spring. Ill sell that and move to camp. Camps paid for and taxes are dirt cheap compared to the area I live in now.

Im single. Anything im thinking of doing in the future all goes to hell if I marry.

You may have to keep on working or do without if you're healthy. A medical savings plan would help. Also check into Medishare, which is supposed to be cheaper than insurance.

I retired at 58 with full insurance benefits. At 65, they switched me to a Medicare Advantage Plan that is actually better than my old insurance; lower co-pays and increased benefits like eye exams, Gold's Gym (ain't going), etc. Max out of pocket is $1050, after deductibles. My wife is 51 and is still covered by the old plan. All I have to pay for this is the Part B which comes out of my SS check; $134, I think.

Point is that those who may have to buy Supplemental on their own might want to look into an Advantage Plan instead to cut out-of-pocket costs. My father got switched to one by his company and his costs went down.

Marry well (rich).

Work until the day you die...

that way, the liberals can take the intended money away from people
who contributed to our society and give it to those that have been and will
forever be, nothing but a drain on our society....

That’s why I’m still working. I’m worried about the free loaders not having beer money.

after retiring from UPS in '11 my insurance plan went from plan A to plan B retired

same coverage.........same deductible.....wife's stayed the same......until she is 66

now Medicare is primary.....UPS/Teamster is secondary for me....but

Medicare is costing me $140/month........that comes right outta my SSA check every month

WTF ?

An arrogant dick that planned ahead.

I was self employed-farmer- so insurance was my problem whether on SS or not. 1400 a month. I took mine at 63 to cover the health insurance. I believe if I had waited till 66 years I would had to draw for 7 years just to break even. Hell I could die before then. The gov has had my money long enough I want some back. Ed k

That $140 is for the optional Part B, not basic Medicare. You can opt out of that, but may lose your secondary if you do. I have to have Part B to be eligible for my Advantage plan.

BTW, the Advantage plan replaces Medicare; your card stays in your wallet and all bills go to the insurance company.

it's that way with my MA plan as well. they cover all the paperwork, admin, etc. at the end of the year they're "made whole" with the medicare people. basically, the gov't is contracting out to private companies to carry out the medicare mission. works well in my case.

some talk now that the whole population could be converted to medicare with ma add-on options for those who want to go that route. i guess there's many ways to skin a cat.

I'm hoping to retire at 55ish and I've not talked to a single money manager/financial advisor/investment analyst who disagrees with discounting the ability to collect SS after the next decade. At some point, like most benefits, it will get cut if you are over a certain net worth. We can't continue our monetary death spiral forever.

If you don’t sign up for Medicare during your initial enrollment period, you’ll still have the opportunity to do so during each subsequent year’s General Enrollment Period. You may also have the opportunity to sign up during certain Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs).

You should be aware, however, that failure to enroll in Medicare when you’re first eligible can result in late enrollment penalties. If you fail to enroll in Medicare Part B during your Intitial Enrollment Period, your monthly premium may increase by 10% for each full 12-month period in which you were eligible for Part B but didn’t sign up for it. If you’re not eligible for premium-free Part A coverage, your monthly premium may go up 10% for twice the number of years you were eligible for Part A but didn’t sign up for it.

The 'tables' are laid out, computed, with you dying in mind.............

You/We generally think we won't, at least not soon.

As others have said, compute what you will get at various ages, determine how long YOU think you will live and choose accordingly...... THEY already know how long THEY think you will live.

ME???? I'll be 64 in Dec. Been retired since 58. I 'could' use it, we all can, don't NEED it. Grandmothers were 98 and 104 when they passed. Grandfathers were 98 and 62(smoking heart attack). Dad IS 90. Mom IS 85.

I'm going to wait................

there it is. it's just game on, and it'll be win, lose or draw.

My understanding is that the social security amount you are going to recieve is based on the mortality tables and when the average life expectancy is for you. If you take it early, or wait until you get the max amount, you should draw the same money if you die as per the mortality table. If you think you are going to outlive the average man in your region, you should wait if possible to collect a higher monthly check. If you think you are going to go early, or on time, then I would collect as soon as possible.

With all the talk about SS running out of money for the last how many years, I decided to start gettin' while the gettin' was good.

Would have took me till 72 to break even, if I had waited.

Plus they fuuck you one month & 3 days right outta the gate......

SS has no money to run out of. It's all a paper game. Originally, the new SS law directed congress to invest the money coming into the general fund. They never did it so the SS fund has never had a dime in it from day 1. The treasury dept has been juggling the books all these years.

Get what you can while you can.

It's a rigged game the house never looses.

Apparently your judgement of character sucks

Bu thats not true Rock Chuck. There is all kinds of money, Al Gore even said so in his presidential debate in the 2000 race. He said it was safely held in a lock box that can't be taken from. As for me , I'm 55 now and plan on quoting when I'm 62. The reason is I dont know how long I can keep doing tile work, drywall and remodels. Many thing depend, how I feel, will there be work in 7 yrs? If I feel ok I can still work enough to bank the S.S. If I'm taxed a bit, do be it. I dont have much money but the house is payed. I hope to get the $ 730 month from my carpenters union. Not much but was only in it 4 1/2 yrs. I should get 20K yr in S.S. . That is only $28,000 yr but my wife most likely will be working and getting insurance. As of not I am collecting $16,000 in Dividends in my portfolio that I put together myself.That would take me to $42,000 without the wives salary or her 401K. I wont see the world , that is for sure. I am thinking of selling our house and moving to a cheaper place to live. Idaho comes to mind with cheaper taxes and cheaper houses. This would give me perhaps another $200,000 in tax free money to invest or, $ 8,000 in dividends at 4%. I'd hate to move if mom was not doing well though, and where my son moves to , is anyones guess. My daughter lives in Cairo , Egypt so I wont be moving closer to her, thats for sure. Cheaper property taxes would save me another $ 2,000 or so. It wont be easy but I have lived dirt cheap all my life and am quite happy. My body is always sore however.

When the time comes and we have a liberal democrat in the White House, there will be means testing and if you have saved and planned so you don’t need ss you will probably not get it or a greatly reduced or taxed amount. They have been licking their chops on that for sometime.

Divorce late in life after 25+ years complicates things too, ‘specially as she’s 10 years younger.

The short version is retirement is not income but a shared asset, so is social security.

I am very fortunate in that I like what I do and it ain’t physically demanding. In my past I never drew unemployment even when I was eligible and don’t feel inclined to take SS either, and as pointed out, teacher retirement voids a bunch of SS.

In a perfect world I will be heathly enough to keep my present job till age 70 (nine years) with no SS, At that time my SS might make the payments on that F150 King Ranch Edition I ain’t been wanting Heck even when working I only need to show up like 185 days/year.

And Ed? Arrogant? Never got that vibe, it ain’t like he should apologize for a life well lived. More power to him

I'm all for privatizing social security. Give me all the money, plus interest, that the govt. has taken over the years, and I'll never ask for any "safety net" from the taxpayers.

Maybe the folks who don't have a pension, or those who aren't disciplined enough to save and invest, can stay on the government dole.

That is never going to happen. If people were given the option of taking their money out of S.S. and not paying in anymore so many people would do it the whole thing would collapse in a very short amount of time. How can you keep a ponzi scheme going without new investors? The government will never allow that. Those people you mention who aren't disciplined enough to save for retirement will be first in line to get their S.S. money so they can go out and blow it. Even when it eventually does collapse in on itself the government won't stop taking our money. They will just wipe out the S.S. debt owed to everyone and start some new program that everyone is forced to participate in. You know, because they are looking out for our best interests.

Have any of you who think you are going to die before you get your money ever checked an insurance table? Insurance companies are the ones who play the odds and they count on winning. I think you will be surprised. This says I'm good for 80. That works for me.

https://www.johnhancockinsurance.com/life/life-expectancy-tool.aspx

Retarmint De guvmint gonna taks care my ass. Dey owe me. My grate grate grate grate grate grate grate grate granmammy was a slav. Yu whitey Muthers o me sum reprashun muney.

Ya, I’ll prob’ly make it to 82, sucks, OTOH there always motorcycles........

Ancestry.com?