Why do you say the "max out your SS at age 70" program is going to "sunset" (as in go away?).Originally Posted by Andy Haney
Is it because the full retirement age may be raised to 70?
I'm waiting to max out mine....still have about 18 months to go.
Contributor
Why do you say the "max out your SS at age 70" program is going to "sunset" (as in go away?).
Is it because the full retirement age may be raised to 70?
I'm waiting to max out mine....still have about 18 months to go.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
Contributor
My experience is quite dated, but I recommend a book titled "Get What's Yours..." available from Amazon. The authors have been updating the book when changes are made in SS. I firmly believe the information available there allowed us to maximize benefits.
Andy
Contributor
Patty,
That water is under my bridge, but when I was preparing to draw SSA regulations did not allow any increase beyond age 70. I believe that is still correct. Our age at the time allowed for me to draw based on my wife's SS between my full retirement age and age 70. At the time I was more familiar than I am now that method was planned to be eliminated by SSA. A check with your local SSA office would likely give you correct/current information. Please accept may apology for not seeing your question sooner.
Andy
Member
Some ex spouses are awarded a percentage of social security benefits even decades in advance by divorce courts. When I was 65, I was trying to figure out whether to put off collecting until later. I could never get a straight answer in English from anyone at the social security office. It was always some canned response in bureaucrat mumbo jumbo that made no sense. In addition, if I keep working and keep paying in, what adjustments are made, if any. Can't get an straight answer. A former boss put off collecting SS until the last, I believe 67 but continued working and had one of the best years ever for earned income and his benefits did not go up, even though he still pays in. I heard a story from an accountant, that a self employed guy wanted to file much higher income amounts than he actually earned, his last 5 years, to maximize social security even though he hadn't paid in for 30 years. The guy was willing to pay taxes on a fictitious income just to boost social security.
I invested in a farm property for the right offs and to fund retirement. Every time I get ready to sell, the market sours.
Contributor
Wow....an amazing number of comments and various answers.
My wife and I used a great financial adviser. We looked at all sources of income, expenses and debts to make the determination. He was able to help forecast our income for years out ahead to make the best choices. There is no one universal answer
Contributor
As mentioned, the most important question is unanswerable: how long will you live? Thats why it's just a big guess. Our planner bases all projections on an assumption that we will both live until 90. But obvuiously, they dont know. There is a break even point for whether you will get more total benefit from drawing early, versus waiting till full retirement age. For me, I calculated that if I lived past 82, it would make sense to wait until 67, but my guess is I won't so I started at 63.
The SSA people I talked to were trained to scrupulously avoid giving kind of advice, rather, just to lay out the facts and numbers. You have to pay for better advice. And then, of course, inflation, politics, and mother nature all have a say in it.
< insert spurious quote here >
Moderator
I retired at age 60 and likely would have waited until 65 to start SS income, but chose to take it at 62 because it provided a benefit to our disabled daughter and more or less doubled her income from SSA and helps her live "independently". (quotes because further subsidies are required for that in reality because living expenses are high...) While I was at it, I paid off my vehicle in three years since I had the extra income to do so. If I was relying on SS as my primary income, taking it early would have been less attractive, but everyone's situation is different. So I agree that there is great value in working with a qualified planner to determine what's the best way forward. We are about to do that for Professor Dr. SWMBO as she's retiring at the end of the Spring term for medical reasons at age 64. It's likely going to be just fine with her waiting until "full" eligibility after her 65th birthday, but there's value in running the numbers for sure.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
What I do not understand is if you make more income do you get more SS when you retire. Assuming years of service and ages are identical.
Bill D
Last edited by Bill Dufour; 04-05-2023 at 4:46 PM.
Moderator
Essentially yes.
From SSA:
Summary
Social Security benefits are typically computed using "average indexed monthly earnings." This average summarizes up to 35 years of a worker's indexed earnings. We apply a formula to this average to compute the primary insurance amount (PIA). The PIA is the basis for the benefits that are paid to an individual.
The formula used to compute the PIA reflects changes in general wage levels, as measured by the national average wage index. We have constructed examples to illustrate how retirement benefits are calculated.
More... https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/Benefits.html
Last edited by Jim Becker; 04-05-2023 at 3:57 PM.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
Jim, I assume "full" eligibility for you and your wife is not 65, but closer to 66 2/3.
Moderator
1957/1959 vintage respectively...I never looked at the details, honestly. But we will certainly be examining said details as The Professor moves into actual retirement and we want to make a "when" decision on that. We have flexibility since, as noted, SS isn't our primary source of retirement income so the balancing act revolves around what maximizes the best use of available resources.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Member
I had a very bad bout with Crohn's disease in the late 1980's and barely had any income for two years. So that drug down my average for the 35 years. So if after I started collecting, I continued to work and pay into the system, even at part time wages, the amount would be more than my 1987. and 1988 incomes. I can't get them to give me an answer, despite the fact that I continued working and paying since I started collecting. Now we can say that an average over 35 yrs doesn't amount to much, but I turned down a lucrative full time job that for 11 months contract would have paid $92K. That would have boosted my average by a a couple grand per year. or about 160 a month. Three of my grandparents lived into their 90's. One died at 65 from a lung condition after working in quarries for 40 years. But his parents both lived to see 90. I turned down the job, in part because I would have had to get rid of our pets and livestock to travel, but also because I couldn't get an answer from SS
Contributor
No problem Andy...the part of your post that caught my eye was the "sunset".
I know there has been talk (currently) about raising the retirement age, cutting benefits, etc to get more funds into the system.
I had always planned to wait until 70 before drawing SS (barring some unusual "life-changing" events).
All the women in my family (both sides) barring one or two exceptions lived well into their late 80s and early 90s...even my Dad's aunts who were born in the 1890s.
My Mother was 93 she died, and most of her aunts were in their 90s.
And I'm still pretty healthy...no chronic anything, no maintenance meds (just kind of an expanding midsection, the fighting of which is an uphill battle)
So I saw (and can still see) every reason to wait until 70 to draw it.
And my financial advisor has done projections wherein he has me living to 105, and manages my investments accordingly.
Last edited by Patty Hann; 04-06-2023 at 5:34 AM.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
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