Posted on 07/25/2012 2:59:16 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Dear Carrie:
I'll be 62 next month. All my friends seem to be taking Social Security on their birthday. I've heard this may not be the wisest choice. What do you think? --A Reader
Dear Reader:
Turning 62 seems to be one of those magic milestones -- and more and more people seem to be celebrating by filing for Social Security benefits the first chance they get. According to the Stanford Center on Longevity, the majority of retirees choose to begin receiving Social Security payouts within a few months after age 62 or immediately after they stop working, regardless of economic or educational status.
The reasons for taking benefits early appears to be primarily emotional -- fear that Social Security will disappear or just because it's possible to do it -- rather than considering if it makes long-term financial sense. In fact, a new study by economists John B. Shoven and Sita Nataraj Slavov indicates that rather than putting extra money in your pocket, taking Social Security benefits early may likely leave a fair amount of money on the table.
But studies aside, deciding the best time to take your benefits is a personal decision, based on your individual situation. So before you join your friends at the benefits table, I'd check your own financial reality.
DO YOU NEED THE MONEY?
The ongoing recession has made this a serious question for a lot of people. For those who have lost their jobs and are having trouble finding other employment, taking Social Security benefits early may be essential to stay afloat.
On the other hand, if you're still working and you file at 62, not only will your benefits be permanently reduced by about 25 percent, $1 will be deducted for every $2 you make above the annual limit, which is currently $14,640. While you will get the money back in the form of a recalculated benefit when you turn 66, the temporary reduction minimizes the economic value of filing early. Plus, if you make over a certain amount each year (between $25,000 and $34,000 for single filers; between $32,000 and $44,000 for married filing jointly), you will likely have to pay income taxes on a percentage of your benefits.
DO THE MATH
There's also another way to look at the numbers. The study I mentioned earlier makes a strong economic case for delaying benefits, especially in a low-interest environment like the one we're in now. First, if you delay taking your Social Security benefits from age 62 to your full retirement age (66 for those born between 1943 and 1954), you'll increase your payout by 25 percent. And if you continue to delay taking your benefits until age 70, your payout increases by 8 percent each year. That's equivalent to an 8 percent raise! The study suggests that when interest rates are 3.5 percent or below, the gains from delaying are especially significant. In a close to zero-interest world like ours, the numbers speak for themselves.
LOOK AT THE PERSONAL SIDE
Of course numbers are only one side of the story. You also need to consider your health and your family history of longevity. The average life expectancy for American women turning 62 this year is 85 1/2, for men it is 83. If you have a serious illness or there are other factors affecting your life expectancy, you might be wise to take your benefits early. However, if you are healthy and come from a family of centenarians, you should definitely consider waiting until 70 to collect to give yourself a financial boost in your later years.
COORDINATE WITH YOUR SPOUSE
If you are married, it also makes sense to coordinate the timing of your Social Security benefits with your spouse. Even if one spouse has never worked, he or she is often still eligible to collect a benefit based on their spouse's work record. If either spouse begins to collect early, their benefit will be reduced. However, for two-earner couples, and especially if there is a large discrepancy in incomes, it may make sense for the lower earner to take a spousal benefit at age 66, while the higher earner waits until age 70. The lower earner can either continue receiving spousal benefits or switch to their own benefit when they turn 70. As you can see, this type of calculation can get extremely complex. I strongly advise couples to get some help from a qualified financial advisor or Social Security expert before filing.
MAKE SOCIAL SECURITY PART OF A BIGGER PLAN
While it is often wise to delay taking Social Security benefits, your decision should always be part of a larger retirement plan. I would start by estimating what your yearly expenses will be in retirement. Calculate how much you can realistically draw from your portfolio and how significant Social Security will be to your overall financial picture. And then coordinate with your spouse. Just because the government allows you to draw your benefits at 62 -- or even at 66 -- doesn't mean you should. Your retirement plan is unique. What someone else considers a wise decision may not be the best move for you.
-- Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(tm), is president of Charles Schwab Foundation and author of "It Pays to Talk." You can e-mail Carrie at askcarrie@schwab.com. This column is no substitute for an individualized recommendation, tax, legal or personalized investment advice.
“(BTW, why does SS disability pay more?)”
It does not pay more. SS disability pays what one would have received if had drawn benefits at age 65 or 66 based upon what had been paid in at the time.
How many millions will have died, waiting to get to 66 and never getting there, and meanwhile, what they left for the government to use on their behalf, will have gone to others and for wasteful government spending.
The government counts on people waiting to retire at 66, because, it will mean billions that never get collected. If you put money into the system, take it at 62, because, chances are that, you will end up ahead (unless you’re still working). If someone collects, say, $16,000 per year, that would mean $64,000 for 4 years, which could be used to, for example, pay off the mortgage or take a few vacations, and, like Nancy Pelosi likes to say, stimulate the economy. Better in the people’s pockets than to leave it for government to spend wastefully.
I am in Greenville Tx, but I found this one in Houston.
http://www.l-3com.com/careers/us-job-search.html
Senior Space Vehicle Flight/Embedded Software Engineer -
Requisition ID
033869
USA-Texas-Houston
Description
L-3 STRATIS is among the largest divisions of global defense leader, L-3. We provide cybersecurity, intelligence, and enterprise information technology services and solutions to the Intelligence Community; the Department of Defense; U.S. federal civilian, state, and local government agencies; and international customers.
L-3 STRATIS is proud of our many long-term partnerships with our customers. We take their missions as our own, always aiming to improve our level of service. Our employees take pride in their consistent application of industry best practices and their ongoing dedication to the highest standards of business ethics - reflected in our motto, Powered by Excellence.
L-3 Communications is looking for a talented Senior Space Vehicle Flight/Embedded Software Engineer with substantial Real Time Operating System (RTOS) experience to support our efforts at the NASA / Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.
The successful candidate will be an experienced software engineer with a strong background in flight/embedded software engineering in the development of human-rated space vehicle avionics and subsystem software, a great interest in aerospace vehicles and systems, strong interpersonal skills, a desire to work in a very team-oriented environment, have had an outstanding academic career, and most of all, possess a great passion to contribute to our Nation’s exploration of space.
The individual will work with engineering teams at JSC, the International Space Station (ISS) Program, Visiting Vehicle programs, and Space Exploration projects. This work will include software system engineering, prototyping, requirements definition, design, development, test and verification, integration and certification of embedded software for human-rated space flight.
Representative Job Responsibilities include:
- Design and develop embedded software prototype and flight software.
- Perform systems engineering in support of software requirements and interface definitions, design and performance analysis.
- Perform software integration, test and verification.
- Integrate and test software/hardware in avionics test bed and flight certification environments.
- Collaborate with engineering teams and contractors across multiple NASA programs and projects.
- Ensure adherence to JSC standard software process practices.
This work takes place in a highly stimulating and dynamic environment that is critical in the human space exploration initiative.
Positions require a self-motivated software engineer wanting to work in a very team-oriented, friendly, but demanding organization. The ideal individual will also possess strong verbal and written communication skills, and team-based project experience.
Qualifications
(a) Minimum required:
Must be a U.S. Citizen. B.S/M.S. in Computer Science/Engineering, Software Engineering or related disciplines and 10+ years in embedded software development for human-rated space vehicles. Must have very strong technical skills in Linux, Real-time Operating Systems, i.e., VxWorks, bus communication, e.g., Ethernet, 1553, and C/C++ and OOAD. Significant experience in entire software life cycle. Ability to manage multiple priorities with little supervision. Must be a highly responsible, team-oriented individual with strong communication skills and work ethic.
(b) Desired:
Experience in Space Shuttle or ISS flight software, CMMI Level 3 Process Areas, and technical leadership.
We offer a competitive benefits package for Full time and Part time employees to include: paid holidays, paid time off, medical, dental, vision, flexible spending account, long and short term disability and company paid life insurance, 401(k) Employee Stock Purchase Plan, referral bonuses and tuition reimbursement.
We are proud to be an EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V. We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing to include background checks.
US Security Clearance Required
: None
Schedule
: Full-time
Shift
: Day - 1st
Travel
: No
Organization
: STRATIS
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At 54 I’m a decade away, tail end of the baby boom. I have absolutely no notion whatsoever that we can continue to live on a trillion and a half dollars of imaginary money for 10 more years - so I have no expectation of ever getting a thing back out of SS even though I’ve put in since I was 13. My timing just sucked - people born in the late 50’s early 60’s are the one’s who will be on the bubble right when it pops - our checks are going to bounce. C’est la Vie.
With all these many thousands of baby boomer retirements and SSDI being taken, I have a question. If many are being taken by people who were working, are those jobs being filled?
If so,they are not new jobs, just old jobs being refilled by new people and the economy is in hell a lot worse shape than admitted.
Poke around at that link.
I am not sure what all operations we have in Houston.
Bill, I understand you have to accept Medicare if you take SS. The only way out of medicare is to waive SS.
<Those last years may come much sooner what with the death panels
I know you didn’t mean this to be funny, but I did LOL. The sad thing is, I think you’re right. I am doing everything I can in terms of my health now (diabetic) to avoid being in the healthcare system. We can’t tell the future, but to the extent I can avoid needing a death panel to review my need for meds or surgery, the better off I think I will be.
<Take it at age 62+ and draw reduced benefits for three years. Wait until age 65+ and it will take years to equal out for monies in pocket since age 62.
OK, but how does that work if you’re still working and making a good salary? I turn 59 next month, and in a year, will be eligible for my deceased spouse’s SS. But from my understanding, I’ll be taxed on it due to my work income, and so I don’t know if I’d actually get anything at all.
Same thing with retiring at 62 instead of 66. If I stay working after I take the SS (btw, will employers let you do this?), will I have any SS income after taxes?
I should probably go to the SS office...
3) Democrats won't be happy until every person in every inner city neighborhood is on Social Security disability... When that happens - or long before - the system will crash...
The expert misses the point.
The fact is, people need the money NOW and they are afraid if they defer their SS payments, the government will change the rules on them and they will get less.
Has nothing to do with shrewd financial calculations to maximizes gain.
People need the money NOW and want to lock benefits in NOW.
“I want some of the money back the socialists confiscated from me.”
Thanks for stealing from me!
Bookmarked! I just turned 61......How is this possible? I used to be so much younger.
NOT ALWAYS.
NOT ALWAYS.
If your spouse is older than you and draws or will draw a bigger SS check than you and will probably die before you, it makes sense to get your Social Security as soon as you can. When one spouse dies and both are on SS, the surviving spouse gets the larger of the two checks.
My father was disabled due to triple bypass in his fifties. He drew a larger check than a regular SS check. (BTW, why does SS disability pay more?) My mother, 8 years younger and healthier than my father, started drawing her Social security at 62. It was a wise decision. When Dad died, Mom got his larger check, so her reduced benefits check no longer mattered.
I thought that if both husband and wife are collecting SS, that if husband dies earlier, surviving spouse will get her own SS or 1/2 of husbands which ever is larger.
Sorry for verry long sentence (pain meds..knee surgery today)
I am not aware of your complete fianacial circumstances and would not proffer advice to be acted upon if I did.
You need to sit down with a professional for professional advice.
Or, get on the web and start throughly studying all the in’s and out’s of SS.
You are correct that the government appears to be systematically under reporting inflation which makes any money you get early even more valuable.
I had not paid too much attention to the changing retirement age — obviously that makes it take correspondingly longer to catch up to the early cashout.
Chances are that if you've provided for yourself, you're the kind of individual that won't take to the streets a la OWS. The "I paid into it and want it back" crowd, not so much.
The other problem is SSDI: with new 'disabilities' being added every day to the list, I don't see how much longer this system can hold on.
I understood that if you retire at 62 what you are calculated to receive at 62 is the permanent amount you will recieve....That’s true. What she is trying to say is you get, for instance, 1300 a month at 62, they will recalculate to 1452 a month at 66. But, if you make a two column graph on paper showing what you get FROM YOUR MONEY for those 48 months it would take 14 years or so to make up that amount. I haven’t done this computation for a while, but I retired in March, got a part time job ($14,160 max) at 29 hours a week and make out better than working 40 and traveling two hours a day. The government don’t get it.
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