This discussion is from people who have worked and paid in all their lives, not your lazy bum illegals you sneak across the borders.

It's official as of this morning! The wife is retired and will get her first check in Aug.

Final numbers as calculated by the lady at the SS office said her break-even, if she waited would be when she is 81yrs and 4 months old.

Yep..This thread has been very educating to me..There is NOT two people here with the same plan. I certainly appreciate and have read every single post. I have gained so much more knowledge of the road ahead of me in a very short amount of time. What started out at a camp in the high mountains as a casual discussion without to much thought had somehow motivated a curiosity in me. I can go to a financial consultant sure. What I can't get from him is the real life experience each and every one of you has. In fact a consultant would just be one more opinion.

It seems all the working people here who paid all their lives actually are the ones who earned money to put into Social Security for a "living retirement". I was speaking with a retired lady a few months back and she told me that as long as her husband was alive, they had enough to live on, but when he died, she had to move in with her daughter.
That is the Catch 22 of Social Security in numbers of people actually worked their butts off all their lives, but did not have enough to live on, and had withdrawn the minimum, so all they get is minimum back. God bless the people who can calculate their rewards for the best retirement, but for numbers of elderly people, my Mom included, if I did not help her out, she would have been forced into low income housing.
I live in a rural area and I do not know anyone who has money to spare from social security. We checked into food stamps even and even under the 14,000 minimum, she was offered 18 dollars a month. I do not know how foreigners or minorities get the hundreds of dollars in SNAP, because with zero assets, she still did not qualify.
And when I was really sick, the SS told me to spend the few thousand I had in savings as I was "too rich" and then they would look at putting me on disability. I refused.
For those individuals who got the breaks and are inside the system, it works for them. For those who have struggled all their lives, the system has not any benefits, including a friend in Ohio who had MG and was given 12 dollars a month for her disability, so she was working in a drug store to make ends meet.
The fact is all government programs work for two groups, the foreigners and those who have had very good incomes to put into the programs all their lives. For numbers of farmers before the Monsanto era, they went broke 8 out of 10 years, so paid no income taxes or social security. For others like my cousin who worked in the government, he has retired on 55,000 a year and life is a breeze. If you are in the system it works, it you are out of the system, it means you either die or move in with the kids.

The social security person wont be taking into account of all your finances. Just be looking at the soc sec end of things.

Taxes. i.e. your soc security, plus the 401k you pulled out that year, plus your spouses income.

i.e. if I can live off of my 401k without soc sec and be comfortable and by waiting get a larger soc sec check which may or may not benefit me personally but may increase what my wife would get after I pass.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/per...arly/110926124/

1. You're still working and will end up forfeiting your benefits anyway
The most obvious situation when it doesn't make sense to claim Social Security early is if you're still working and making enough money that you'll have to forfeit whatever you receive in benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has rules that force you to give up what you get from Social Security if your income is above certain limits.

Specifically, if you make more than $17,040 in 2018 and won't reach your full retirement age during the year, you'll have to give up $1 in annual benefits for every $2 you make above that $17,040 threshold. For someone who'd be slated to get a roughly average monthly check of $1,400 from Social Security, earnings of more than $50,600 would completely wipe out your benefits.

This isn't as bad as it sounds, because in exchange for forfeiting benefits, the SSA treats you as if you had actually waited to claim benefits later. So if you lost a whole year's worth of benefits, you'd effectively get the same benefit amount later that you would have gotten if you'd waited an extra year before claiming. If you know you're going to be working, it's simpler to put off claiming, even if you're old enough to get early benefits.

2. You want to leave your family the most benefits possible
Many people decide when to claim Social Security based solely on their own expectations. Yet in many cases, it's not just your benefits that will suffer a big reduction if you claim early.

Survivor benefits for spouses and eligible children are determined, in part, by when you claim your primary retirement benefits. If you claim early, then the lower monthly payments you get will also be reflected in what your family receives in monthly survivor benefits after you pass away.

Whether those survivor benefits are important depends on your family situation. For spouses who have worked and will have their own retirement benefits, survivor benefits aren't necessarily an important consideration. But for single-earner families, or for those who have disabled children who will be eligible to receive benefits throughout their lives, waiting to claim can have a huge positive influence on their financial futures.

3. Your tax situation might be better if you wait
Many people don't realize that Social Security benefits can be taxable. To find out, take half the benefits you get and add them to any other income that you have. If the total is more than $25,000 for singles or $32,000 for joint filers, then a portion of your Social Security can be subject to income tax.

In some cases, claiming early makes it more likely that your benefits will be taxable. The most common situation is for married couples who file jointly, where one spouse is still working. Even if it's your spouse and not you who brings in taxable income, your spouse's earnings still count toward that threshold.

Social Security can be taxable at any age, so waiting doesn't necessarily get you off the hook. But if you wait, your financial situation might change enough to help you avoid tax.

I went to the SS office when I turned 65. They advised me that if I waited until 67, I could collect full retirement benefits and earn whatever income I want without penalty of any kind. Income-wise 67 would provide me with the best overall outcome. So, that's what I did. I still work and probably will until I die or my health fails.

Right now health-wise, I feel like the guy who fell out of a 40 story building. As he was falling, he kept saying, "So far so good, so far so good, so far so good........"

Yep..Sure enough there is language about taking some amount of money out of your 401K's at 70.5 years of age or have a heavy tax imposed.

Another little something I didn't have a clue about.

If anything the should be raising the contributions to keep it going but nobody want's to touch that, look how little we pay in today for what we get back at the end! Not sure how it can be seen as a bad deal with the SS and Medicare a guy gets later in life. Same complainers most likely complain about but no real plan to replace it.

Better to have something then nothing at all but would the ones complaining save enough or expect the Government to take care of them for their bad planning in the end?

The complaint I have with SS is all the extra addendums lawmakers have tacked onto SS over the years. Originally, it was basically designed to accomplish two things, if you were disabled or died before retirement or if you lived to retirement, you would be compensated for either.

I know of people who never paid a dime into SS, but are collecting full disability for the rest of their lives. Another whose son's college was pretty much paid for because the father was disabled and on SS. They make it too easy to qualify for SS disability in many cases. Once they qualify for SS disability, they're on for life. Who would want to get off when the free money is so easy? SS should be more like Workers Comp where some claimants could be rehabilitated and return to work either full time or part time.

Correct me if i'm wrong.I was told that you pay into ss until you make 125000.per year.After that you don't have to pay ss for that year.

Yes do it as fast as you can. IT or YOU may not be here when you turn 66

Originally Posted By: Law Dog



Originally Posted By: bblwi

I find it interesting to read all the detailed post regarding SSN and how to best utilize when many on here constantly bash the program, call it a commie program, liberal plot and vote for candidates who want to eliminate the program.

Bryce



If anything the should be raising the contributions to keep it going but nobody want's to touch that, look how little we pay in today for what we get back at the end! Not sure how it can be seen as a bad deal with the SS and Medicare a guy gets later in life. Same complainers most likely complain about but no real plan to replace it.

Better to have something then nothing at all but would the ones complaining save enough or expect the Government to take care of them for their bad planning in the end?

The complaint I have with SS is all the extra addendums lawmakers have tacked onto SS over the years. Originally, it was basically designed to accomplish two things, if you were disabled or died before retirement or if you lived to retirement, you would be compensated for either.

I know of people who never paid a dime into SS, but are collecting full disability for the rest of their lives. Another whose son's college was pretty much paid for because the father was disabled and on SS. They make it too easy to qualify for SS disability in many cases. Once they qualify for SS disability, they're on for life. Who would want to get off when the free money is so easy? SS should be more like Workers Comp where some claimants could be rehabilitated and return to work either full time or part time.
_________________________
Scouts: Teenage boys and girls camping in the woods together. What could possibly go wrong????





WELLLL you are partly right. BUT most of the people that are drawing that hasn't paid anything in are getting SSI. It is separate but the same if that makes sense.

For 2018 it's $128,400

I started drawing mine at 62. I get 75% of what I would have received had I waited to draw at 66. No regrets here.

Can I have yours then Doug, then I’ll just burn mine. Lol

Bryce if Social Security is such a great program why mandate it? Let people enroll of their own free will. What is the word I'm thinking of? Oh yeah!" Liberty."

Chamacat >>>> to answer your question on the 401K and age 701/2. At that age the Federal Gov. makes you take out so much each year so you have to pay taxes on all that tax deferred money. It is called Required Minimum Distribution.

Remember, 401k is taken out pre-tax so in U.S. Treasury gov speak, they never got a chance to tax any of it so they imposed a minimum age where you have to take some out (and I believe there is a minimum small percentage of what has to come out a year). But then again, all the earnings you had on the 401k before you start withdrawing has been tax-deferred so it seems like a ok trade to me...

Tax deferred 401 Ks etc. have RMD's based on age and life expectancy. The lowest rates come at 70.5 and the annual rate increases each year and peaks near your later 80s or about the time the average American dies. You can have your financial planning person get the chart for you or you can Google it as well I would think. I am going to over withdraw for several years and re-characterize some of the funds.

Bryce