Just curious. How much does the federal taxation of SS payments (up to 85% of benefits taxed, depending on income) weigh into your decision as to when to begin drawing it?
In my case, it didn't. I was just sick enough of my job that for me, retirement felt like the figurative "last plane out of Saigon", so to speak. It was in 2008 when the recession was just coming on strong, so I managed to avoid all the stress, the corporate politics, and the inevitable layoff notices. Probably added years to my life as a result
Like I said, if my wife and I hadn't been saving all our working lives in anticipation of Social Security not being there when we retired, we'd probably not have been able to do it. But I'm glad we did.
A quick way to find out if any of your benefits may be taxable is to add one-half of your Social Security benefits to all your other income, including any tax-exempt interest. Next, compare this total to the base amounts below. If your total is more than the base amount for your filing status, then some of your benefits may be taxable. The three base amounts are:
$25,000 - for single, head of household, qualifying widow or widower with a dependent child or married individuals filing separately who did not live with their spouse at any time during the year
$32,000 - for married couples filing jointly
$0 - for married persons filing separately who lived together at any time during the year