In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Yesterday was SS day.
NeoBlackdog
Member Posts: 17,188 ✭✭✭✭
Turned 62 yesterday so I'm now eligible to start my Social (in)Security.
I wish I was in a position to not take it, but doggone it, the way things are going every little bit helps.
Do those of you that have already started getting your SS have any advice for me as far as the application process? I know that starting it at 62 won't get me as much per month, but my wife and I figured the bird in the hand is better than the two in the bush.
Comments
why not take it? you do know that when you die the Gov, gets to keep all the money you paid into the system. dont know about you but God has never guaranteed me another day, thats how i looked at it. and if you work out the math and do live long enough they money equals out.
take as soon as you can
No advice, but i'm a year behind ya on pulling that pin. I've done the math before, and you will be something like 75-80 years old before you break even on taking the earlier lesser amount over waiting until you're 65 to get 25%(?) more.
Took mine at 62,, Wife waited since hers will be huge and the first check will come Weds. She now makes with her state retirement and SS the same as working.
TAKE IT, I did. A friend of mine was going to wait to take it at 70 advice from his money manager.😐️ He passed two months ago at 69.
The process id relatively not as complicated as you might think with anything the government has its hands in.
Take it! Do it online, only takes about 30 minutes or less if you have all the info needed, which you can find out by just going to the site. Https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/lp/landing-page-rome.html ahead of time to create account and get the info.
Take it the moment you can, for the reasons others have said above.
Consider going to your nearest SS office to file in person. The staff can find extra benefits for you that you might not be able to online - and can explain the mystifying maze of options. If you were military, be sure to take your official form (DD214?), your birth certificate, and any summary of benefits you've received from the SSA.
I've been happily getting your tax money for 13 years now. It's your turn to cash in.
My bride and I both signed up at 62. Online process was easy.
I took mine at 62. No regrets.
Regarding application? If you need to visit your local office, MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. I did, and I was in and out in 20 minutes.
I agree, I took it and have been spending it for 18 years.
I agree with all the others. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
I agree and I'm waiting till I'm 67 I'm 63 now and retired and living off other investments. If we had children to leave our estate to i would probably collect at 62 in order to preserve our investments. If you start collecting at 62 and die at 63 sure you got something from the government but at that point does it really matter.
I took it at 64, as doing maintenance with a bum knee is tough, but doing the SS calculator it was showing that for every month i delayed i would get an additional $50 in my SS check. I left in time before my knee got worse and now, I can walk without pain, it was a trade-off between less money or totally bad knee.
I thought about too but I think I am going to wait a year or so to 63 or 64.
"Please hold, Your call is important ..."
Been collecting mine for 5 years. Went online and registered and it was painless. I did it at 62 simply because our politicians seem to be determined to let SS go broke. I figured I'd get it while the getting was good. They have had a few raises since I started collecting and are talking a big one coming up next year because of all this inflation. Having that check come every month means I haven't needed to touch any of my nest egg but with this mega inflation that won't last to much longer. So get it, and enjoy it while you can! Bob
I am 53.................just hope I can get some return for my pay-in.......................ten years from now
It was always my cynical opinion that the US Goobermint deliberately dangled that "If you wait, you'll get more" carrot in front of us because it knew perfectly well that a large percentage of us would die by the later date, or soon after. If possible, they'd make sure of it. Nothing they have done in the past few decades has done anything but prove my theory.
took mine at 62 . my health was declining and it was getting difficult to keep up with my construction job .At 64 , i had to quit completely as i could no longer walk without a cane . It has taken 3 knee replacements ,a custom fitted foot brace and 3 trips to physical therapy to get back to walking normal .Take the money !
I started SS at 65, then worked another 2 years, investing the SS $. I waited to retire because if I put in over 30 years, the company would pay a $30K lump sum bonus, which I put in an annuity fund paying 4% (haven't touched it). With SS, retirement, 401K, interest, and the wife's SS, we bring in more than when we worked, just not saving as much. After 10 years, so far, so good.
take it at 62, you don't see an 'extra' penny for 10 years (s.s. X 5 years) at 66
Figure it out for yourself. Here's an example with generic numbers...
SS at 62 $1000/month.
SS at 65 $1500/mo.
Three years at $1000/mo means you'd draw $36,000. To "make up" that $36k that you did NOT get while you waited, it would take 72 months at $1500/mo to "break even" That's six years, or when you hit 72. If you live longer than 72, you come out ahead, but anything short of that and you lose.
Plug in your own dates and numbers to figure your own "break even" age.
I used my SS to pay off all my debts. It took less than two years.
Take it. Apply now on-line, it's quick and easy. You can first go to the estimate your retirement page and see what you will get based off what start date you put in. Good luck. Congrats.
Take the money you earned it. And Happy Birthday a day late.
The lock-step advice from all the financial advisors is to wait until 70 or so to collect SS in order to getg more per month. True, but you will have fewer months to collect won't you. And, they never tell you where to get the money you will need to offset the SS you will not be getting for 8 years if you had started at 62. Say you can collect $1,500 per month at 62 but wait 8 years to collect more per month at 70. Okay, you have given up on collecting $1,500x12x8 = $144,000 you would have collected. Where did you get that much money to offest that loss?
My Dad listened to the wait crowd and did not start collecting until 70. He figured he was going to live into his late 80s or into his 90's like his parents and the generation before that one.....a couple years later he passed.
Tomorrow is promised to no one....the other weird thing that came from his death was my mother's SS doubled. Even though they were divorced almost 50 years earlier. Never could figure that one out .....
AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Okay, you've convinced me. Monday morning I'm gonna make an appointment and go get it while the gettin's good.
Thanks for all the input!
Yes, exactly.
Congrats on reaching a point where you can make the decision!
I went against all the right things to do where I worked they offered a retirement package. Xx amount of years served had to be at least 55
I was 57 had 25.5 years in the more I thought about it . well I went into work one morning said I am out of here today at 57 and a bad back I just rode out my time until I hit 62 to get my ss
I turned 65 in March
you can still work on the side and collect SS if you want, or just get paid to sit on the couch, your choice.........
But they tax your SS. Don
Start off by setting up a "My Social Security" account. If you have a spouse, set up her account, too.
Avoid going to your local SS office if you can. If you must go in, phone the information line & make an appointment. If you just walk in, you may find that you have a 4 hour wait.
However much you get, be thankful. I figure that the SS fund became insolvent in the 1980's. We are now getting "printing press" dollars, just like the folks on welfare.
You will probably collect as much as you (& your employers) paid in by the time you collect benefits for 3 years. Not a bad deal.
Neal
I took mine at 62 also. I wanted my share before it was all gone. No regrets.
Neo- IMPORTANT PART that I totally missed. If you have income other than Social Security, up to 85% of your Social Security can be taxed. I retired at 65 -was full retirement age for me) but was still working for a year. When I did my taxes- WHAT DO YOU MEAN I OWE THE FEDS NINE GRAND!?!?!?!?
You have to tell them to withold taxes- otherwise you can have a big tax bill next year. If you have no other income, does not apply.
Got everything set up today over the phone. They're going to call on the 28th to finalize things, taxes, direct deposit, etc.
Thanks for all your help, fellas. It is much appreciated!
Chme, right now I don't plan on going back to work but they did tell me I would be able to make X amount per year without it being taxed. 'preciate the input!
If you can control your earned income between 62 and 67 and keep it less than around $20k, then start at 62. In every scenario I have ever ran, a person is better off to draw early until they reach the age of 79. If one lives past 79, they would have been better off financially to have waited until 67. If you are self-employed, you could always put your spouse on payroll and pay them nicely as long as it is within reason for what a person doing his/her duties would be paid. Or set your business up as a Sub S corporation and pay yourself just under the allowable amount you can earn for early SS retirement. The remainder of business income would not affect the social security eligibility.
Neo, I believe you, like many others, have what they meant confused. You can make just under $20k in Year 2022 without having to pay back any of the social security benefits. That does not mean you won't have to pay tax on the social security benefits. Two completely different issues. If you are single and if half of your SS benefits plus all of your other income is over $25k, then part of your SS benefits will be taxable. If you are married, then you add half of both spouses SS benefits plus their combined other income and if that is over $32k, then part of your SS benefits will be taxable. The higher you go above the $25k or $32k threshold, the higher percentage of the SS benefits would be taxable. No one pays on more than 85% of the SS benefits. But, dependent on how much that other income is, it still may not cost you any taxes.
Happy belated birthday!
I plan to take advantage of mine as soon as I can.
Neacpa, thanks for the advice. When I try to look at this stuff on their website my eyes glaze over and I start to drool about 14.3 seconds in.
If you show me a set of plans, I can build it. Show me a bunch of financial stuff on a piece of paper and it's goodnight, Irene.
Kasey, thanks for the belated!