Posted on 07/10/2018 2:39:24 PM PDT by GeorgiaDawg32
ssa.gov
You need to know when you will die to answer the question.
What is your break even age?
if I knew when I was gonna die, I’d start a lottery then feed the answer to my kids. they’d make millions.
Don't ask me. It's Chinatown.
ML/NJ
It’s six of one and half a dozen of the other. SS works on increments of years so the difference will be minimal. Unless you will be making a huge amount above your normal salary in the year before retirement, it makes almost no difference unless you die in the next two or three years. If you expect to die soon, take your benefits now. If you expect to live a while, flip a coin.
There is no penalty if you make a ton of salary in your last year and retire before the end of the year and start taking SS. You just fill out a form to let the SS know. You only get screwed if you continue working at a good salary and apply for SS benefits anyway.
I retired in June and got a huge buyout. I started SS in July and had no penalty. I did have to pay taxes on the SS at the higher rate because of my extreme income that year, but that’s to be expected.
Hard to imagine that having Medicare Part A (Hospital) would be a detriment. Part B (Doctors) is something you have to pay for, so I guess if you like you VA care, you should keep it. But it does allow you to go wherever you want.
ML/NJ
You can collect widower benefits until you file for your own. You cannot collect from both. I just went through this myself.
LOL.... I just thought she had to be retired too... Oh well!
I waited til 66. If you wait til 66 you get a bigger payment PLUS if you are married and your spouse made more than you in their lifetime you can apply for the “spousal benefit”. It’s a second application. Then you can receive half of what your spouse. We qualified and I receive 340.00 more a month until one of us passes.
The way I’m going and most men are in the same group , we’re all gotta die early , late 70’s or early 80’s. if not sooner. ;)
all depends on your circumstance. i started drawing promptly at 62 and within three years got back more than i ever put in. well into my 70s now.
This might help.
If you take it before you retire, you screw yourself on the penalties. If you delay taking it, they’ll increase the payout for each year you wait. So basically, you can choose either ‘1’ or ‘2’. Rules change at some point- I think 70.5, so if you delay, look again at that point.
bump for later
You can actually calculate how many years you would have to live to make up the difference.
If you would collect $20,000 at 62 and $30,000 at 70 (made up numbers), you would have lost out on $160,000 at age 70. It would take you sixteen years to make that up at $10,000 more dollars per year.
And that isn’t even counting the time value of money, AKA inflation.
I had a question and went to the local social security office. They told me I needed to go to the IRS office. I went to the IRS office, and the lady there told me I needed to contact social security. I finally got a live person on the phone at the national social security office. She did not know the answer to my question and said nobody in her office knew the answer to my question. She said, “If I were you, I’d Google it.”
It is really not answerable unless you know how long you will live.
For example if you postpone taking SS until you are 70 you will get a bigger check (8% per year) but if you kick the bucket right away you get nothing.
SSA questions: when to retire: benefits: bookmark
“Call the IRS and ask one question. You’ll get SIX different answers there.“
...and they are not responsible for ANY of them.
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