Posted on 05/14/2025 12:38:15 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
We’ve all heard the advice: Wait until you’re 70 to claim Social Security and you’ll get the biggest possible monthly check. Tim F., a retired healthcare worker from Arizona, followed this advice to the letter. But now, at 75, he’s having second thoughts.
GOBankingRates spoke with Tim to understand why he wishes he’d claimed his benefits earlier. His insights might just change the way you think about your own retirement plans.
Tim thought he was doing everything right.
“Everything you read says you should wait until 70 if you can,” he shared. “I guess I thought, well, I can, so I should. I didn’t stop to think about if that was actually the best plan for me.”
Tim likes larger monthly checks, but he’s not sure they were worth the price.
“Looking back, I would’ve wanted that extra money when my wife was still around.”.....
Tim doesn’t believe waiting until 70 is wrong for everyone. But he does have some advice for those trying to make this decision:
Consider your health. “Be realistic about how you might feel in 5 years,” said Tim.
Talk it over with your significant other. It’s not a good decision if it’s not made together.
Think about what you want to do in retirement. Travel? Spend time with grandkids? Take up knitting? Make a list and let your finances follow.
Look at your other income sources. Side hustles don’t have to end with retirement.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Social Security is nothing but a government-endorsed PONZI Scheme. in 12 years when I become “eligible”, I suspect there won’t be much if anything left for me to draw.
You ought to be enjoying that young wife. Or you can keep working till you drop, and then she finds a young stud so that she and him can live off of your money.
I took it at 62...didn’t think I’d make it to 65.
I saw a lot of people do about the same. Many dead within 6 months. Bear, at least was really doing something he loved and he was forced into retirement.
I’m sorry to read that and my heart goes out to you.. It’s a shame we are forced to contribute to a fund that Congress constantly robs rather than being free to invest that same money in our own retirement funds.
If you wait until 67 versus taking it at 62 you don’t even begin to break even until you’re 72
I started at 66. Pretty happy with that decision.
My dad was planning on taking an early retirement. He had seen to many people wait and die early before they could enjoy not working.
The company talked him into staying a few more months. In that time, he had a massive, fatal heart attack. And he was in his mid 50's.
SS at 66, and I continued to work another 5 years. Glad I did that.
Since a lot of my family lived into their 80’s, I figured taking SS at 62 made sense. No regrets.
IBM Research retirement deal was one of the last good ones. I retired at 58 and they smeared my last year’s salary over the next 7 years when calculating my retirement amount. I didn’t get anything for the next 7 years, but got a larger amount at the end of the 7 years. Also gave money and retraining for week long workshops in Maine. Great fun and a new career attempt. That’s how I got agented for screenplays with Writers & Artists in Hollywood. LOVE IBM. Still have warm fuzzies toward them.
I started a few years ago when the democrats were in control and busy destroying the country.
Who knew if SS would still be around, no matter how much I paid into it.
I don’t regret it. It has helped pay the bills and my health isn’t the greatest so I don’t how long I’ve got.
Plus, my extended family has a history of longevity, but my dad passed at 56 and my mom at 67. Lost a brother just last year and he was 61, same deal as my dad, but the alcoholism, diabetes, and obesity sure didn’t help.
All depends on how long you live. There is a breakeven point after which you made the right decision. If you die before that, you made the wrong decision.
I took SS at 62. My full benefit age is 67. I don’t regret it. What’s aggravating is that if I die my wife won’t receive any of my benefits because she earned more in her career than I did.
I took SS at 62. My full benefit age is 67. I don’t regret it. What’s aggravating is that if I die my wife won’t receive any of my benefits because she earned more in her career than I did.
It’s a gamble either way. Wait until you get the largest amount, and you might not even collect the first check. Take it early and at least have something coming in besides bills.
I just wonder why they take Medicare out of the SS check when it was collected as a separate tax. Shouldn’t that tax have been invested so that the SS check wouldn’t be reduced? At least I had a couple of years of full SS checks.
I claimed SS at 63 and kept working so I got half he check. That was enough to make me solvent again. When I hit 65 full payments resumed though at a lower level than if I had waited for 70. I am 79 now and Over all I have run the numbers and have determined that I did better totally than if I had waited for 70. And I am still working.
I will wait until I am 70, because my wife is considerably younger than I am, and I have little savings. I understand that if I take SS before 67 my regular job ensures that my SS will be taxes heavily. Iwon’t be able to retire, so 70 it is.
“A contributing factor often ignored in these FR discussions, is that a surviving spouse can receive the higher payment, so that’s an added reason to delay my higher payout.”
In our case the numbers were super clear.
I should wait until I was 70 to collect. Then my (much younger and much lower earning) wife could collect whenever she wanted—eventually she started collecting at 65.
Why? Because (as you note) if I died first she gets the high survivor number. In addition her benefit was calculated based on my benefit which meant she received a much higher number while I was alive.
We were looking at the “family” number to make the decision—not the individual number.
Also took it at 62. Break even age is ~74. If you don’t need it then invest for 12 years. Waaaayyyy ahead. On top of that, there’s a pot of money for heirs. I’ve known a lot of people who waited but tee’d off before they benefitted.
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