Social Security Questions

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Using the examples you give, doing the math, you will break even at 85 years of age, all things being equal and assuming you are working until you retire be it either 65 or 70.
I don't know what other factors come into play that may skew the way I am assuming it works out.

Retire at 65. At 85 years of age you will have collected 240 months @ 1800.00 for a total of 432,000.
Retire at 70. At 85 years of age you will have collected 180 months @ 2400.00 for a total of 432,000.

I guess there are two questions.
1st, what to you expect your life expectancy to be? Depending on when you start drawing and how long you live, you will come out ahead or .gov will. Basically, if you are going to expire prior to 85, it is better (larger total) to collect starting at 65.

2nd, can you make use of the extra 600.00 per month when you are in your later years? Sure, you can defer collecting so you can get a larger monthly payment but depending on your health, you may not be able to spend it doing the things you want to do at 80 years old vs things you may want to do when you are 65-70.

I may be totally wrong in my thinking and if I am, please correct me. I still have a few years to go before i have to decide but I keep gong back and forth as to when I want to retire.

:agree: …. I started getting SS at 62 …. for all the reasons you stated ….and I have zero regrets …… the nice folks at SS gave me a lengthy spiel about ALL the benefits of putting off retirement as long as possible ( preferably 70 yrs. old ) ….. I then did my own Math and decided it wasn't in my best financial interests …. I honestly think the Fed Govt. prefers you wait as until you are 70 ……………….. A point that I haven't seen in this discussion is the Fact that if your SS check is larger … You will probably have to pay MORE in taxes … SS is not really Free money …. The only folks who don't have to pay a portion of their SS money are the indigent /poor ……. jmho ….. Mike :thumbup:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

:agree: …. I started getting SS at 62 …. for all the reasons you stated ….and I have zero regrets …… the nice folks at SS gave me a lengthy spiel about ALL the benefits of putting off retirement as long as possible ( preferably 70 yrs. old ) ….. I then did my own Math and decided it wasn't in my best financial interests …. I honestly think the Fed Govt. prefers you wait as until you are 70

The one big failure in the reforms that the Reagan administration instituted with SS back in 1983/84 was not coming up with a formula that would have actually made it financially beneficial to wait to start SS benefits. Maybe they tried and couldn't come up with anything that would sell. The only way they got the reforms accomplished, I believe, was to delay the real impact for years, that is raising the full retirement age.

A huge incentive for me to start taking the benefits at 62 was twofold. One, I wanted to come back home to Idaho and spend time with my oldest brothers. It's good I did because both were gone within 3 1/2 years. The second was the crossover age calculation. When I factored in my wife's age, 4 years older than me, my crossover age was close to 90. No way did family history suggest I would live that long!

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

2nd, can you make use of the extra 600.00 per month when you are in your later years? Sure, you can defer collecting so you can get a larger monthly payment but depending on your health, you may not be able to spend it doing the things you want to do at 80 years old vs things you may want to do when you are 65-70.

I may be totally wrong in my thinking and if I am, please correct me. I still have a few years to go before i have to decide but I keep gong back and forth as to when I want to retire.

Your points are very valid, IMO. Physical condition in later years is a total crap shoot, and if you come up short you won't be spending near as much money on recreation and travel as in early years of retirement. Even if your health stays good, you may simply become bored and tired with all the recreation and traveling you were doing, and just decide to stay home and watch the lawn grow! And age and health are not the only considerations. See my comment about spending time with my brothers. Just keep in mind, whatever you decide, you will be wrong. On the other hand, whatever you decide, you will be right!