Take Reduced Benefits ????

[Mr._johngalt]

I've posted before about George Stott, whom I admire (but won't emulate) for having the courage to make this shameless declaration that:
"Every few years, I do an extensive study as to what it would cost us to live were we to stop working.  The figure goes up each time I do this.  Nice to have items that are easily affordable because we continue to work have become necessities.  We could have retired years ago at a much lower annual cost than today.  A few years from now, I suspect it will be even higher.  On the flip side, our lifestyle continues to improve as we go on more trips, etc."

At the time he wrote this, nearly five years ago, he was 68.  He's still working!

He's nuts!

JG

 

[Dreamer]

NWSteve,

I'm sorry that I confused you. Ex-Jarhead nailed the explanation. There are 2 separate issues. I was speaking to whether or not you would be able to draw your social security benefits that you are due for the year or if some of the benefits would be withheld due to your earned income. The second issue is whether or not a person's social security benefit is taxed. You are correct that social security benefits can be taxed. Federal income tax can be withheld from your social security benefits. State income tax can not be withheld from your social security benefits.

Dreamer

 

[Mr._johngalt]

While I recognize this is true for many, I'm not convinced this will be true for us.  My DW and I love to travel.  We are almost never home.  Since retirement, we have traveled all over North America -- mostly by car.  We camp whenever possible.  We stay in budget hotels if camping isn't available.  We hike and backpack.  We raft down rivers and hike up mountains.  These are all relatively inexpensive things to do and we enjoy them.  But when we get older, I expect that we won't be able to do many of these things.  Instead, I expect us to fly more instead of drive, stay in more comfortable hotels and fewer tents.  I expect us to join some tours rather than do all our own homework and legwork.  We'll enjoy this kind of travel, but it will probably cost more.  So I'm guessing that we might spend more as we get older.   

Or you might stay home and sit on your porch. You never know.

JG

 

[Dawg52]

He's nuts!

JG

My company has an 80 year old salesman that just had his kidney removed and plans to come back to work.   He has plenty of money but claims he can't find anything more fun to do than being a salesman. Also bought a Hummer last year! To me that is nuts, but if he is happy..... so be it.

 

[sgeeeee]

Or you might stay home and sit on your porch.  You never know.

JG

I realize that. Our interests could change dramatically. But I'm not counting on it.

 

[nwsteve]

confused because of two different issues.

On the one hand, at age 62, if you have earned income, ie. a job, you will lose part of your soc. security directly.  Not talking about tax situation, but an actual reduction of Soc. Security benefits.

What you alluded to in your quote above, is that soc. Sec. benefits are subject to TAXES if certain guidelines are exceeded.

Two different issues.

Basically, if you are age 62, and do not have a job, your soc. sec. won't be affected directly, no matter how much income you have.

If that;s not clear, fire away, I'm retired and have plenty of time.

ExJarhead
Thanks you cleared it up.  After your message I found the info on SSA web.  Pensions are TAXABLE but not "earned income" for determining penalty when taking early SS and earning over 12K.
You helped a bunch. 
Thanks
Nwsteve

 

[Mr._johngalt]

My company has an 80 year old salesman that just had his kidney removed and plans to come back to work.   He has plenty of money but claims he can't find anything more fun to do than being a salesman. Also bought a Hummer last year! To me that is nuts, but if he is happy..... so be it.

Yeah, you are right. If you are happy working until you drop then go for it.

JG

 

[Caroline]

We hike and backpack.  We raft down rivers and hike up mountains.  These are all relatively inexpensive things to do and we enjoy them.  But when we get older, I expect that we won't be able to do many of these things.  Instead, I expect us to fly more instead of drive, stay in more comfortable hotels and fewer tents.  I expect us to join some tours rather than do all our own homework and legwork.

I wouldn't be too sure about this, SG.  I'm driving to Reno today for the 75th birthday of my favorite backpacking leader.  I've followed this guy through Utah wilderness -- down canyon and up cliff wall -- for the last 8 years.  He leaves me in the dust every single time.  He also planned and took off for an independent backpacking trip across Europe -- with his 50-year-old girlfriend in tow.

There's another Sierra club member, Elizabeth, who leads hikes regularly also, at 83.  Back when she was 73 she hosted her MOTHER from Germany, who joined her on the mountain trails!  I know a lot more like her.

Sounds like you and DW are well on your way to a very healthy and active retirement which will, given your fitness levels, probably also save you thousands of dollars in motels, meds, tours, etc.

Caroline

 

[Dreamer]

Caroline,

That is wonderful. I love hearing about people who are loving their retirement and also about people who don't let their age get in the way of doing what they want to do. I think the key is in the planning, whether it be for retirement or who staying healthy!!

Dreamer

 

[sgeeeee]

I wouldn't be too sure about this, SG.  I'm driving to Reno today for the 75th birthday of my favorite backpacking leader.  I've followed this guy through Utah wilderness -- down canyon and up cliff wall -- for the last 8 years.  He leaves me in the dust every single time.  He also planned and took off for an independent backpacking trip across Europe -- with his 50-year-old girlfriend in tow.

There's another Sierra club member, Elizabeth, who leads hikes regularly also, at 83.  Back when she was 73 she hosted her MOTHER from Germany, who joined her on the mountain trails!  I know a lot more like her.

Sounds like you and DW are well on your way to a very healthy and active retirement which will, given your fitness levels, probably also save you thousands of dollars in motels, meds, tours, etc.

Caroline

I hope you're right. I know such people too. But I also know those that had an accident or illness in their 50's or 60's and never completely recovered. I'm not sure how much of it is conditioning and keeping active vs how much of it is luck. I can do my best to stay active and in shape. The luck I can hope for.

 

[TromboneAl]

I think of it like tires.

You can have bald tires and never get in an accident, or you can have good tires and crash right away. But, if you have good tires (healthy habits), you're less likely to crash.

Note that you can use a longevity calculator to get a feeling for how long you might live.

 

[Eagle43]

I wouldn't be too sure about this, SG. I'm driving to Reno today for the 75th birthday of my favorite backpacking leader. I've followed this guy through Utah wilderness -- down canyon and up cliff wall -- for the last 8 years. He leaves me in the dust every single time. He also planned and took off for an independent backpacking trip across Europe -- with his 50-year-old girlfriend in tow.

There's another Sierra club member, Elizabeth, who leads hikes regularly also, at 83. Back when she was 73 she hosted her MOTHER from Germany, who joined her on the mountain trails! I know a lot more like her.

Sounds like you and DW are well on your way to a very healthy and active retirement which will, given your fitness levels, probably also save you thousands of dollars in motels, meds, tours, etc.

Caroline

Awesome! Let's see, the mother must have been 93 minimum. When I grow up, I wanna be like that!

 

[Nords]

I'm not sure how much of it is conditioning and keeping active vs how much of it is luck.  I can do my best to stay active and in shape.  The luck I can hope for.

The harder I work the luckier I get. The worst part of the day is the 30 minutes before we go to tae kwon do ("I'm tired, *whine*") but then I realize that I'll have many more years when I'm able to sit my butt in a recliner and not so many when I can do 360-degree hook kicks.

I had Monterey (Naval Postgraduate School) courses with Gene Haderlie, an oceanographer, and Dr. Hamming (the computer scientist who invented Hamming codes). They had interesting personalities. Students were as likely to call Prof. Haderlie "Gene" as "Dr.", while I'm pretty sure that Dr. Hamming's first name has always been "Dr." Gene used to take 20+ of us 20-somethings to the local intertidal zones and run us ragged showing us types of marine life and their habitats. I can still remember him scampering up & down the tidepools while we slogged along trying to keep up (and to take notes). If he's still alive (he was in his 80s then but I don't see any obituaries on the web) he must be over 100 now.

Dr. Hamming's course was about the "art" of science & engineering problem solving. It was one of those Feynman-like courses where you put down your pencil and just gaze in awe upon the performance, trying to soak up the living history while it's there. He passed away suddenly a few years back but he was still teaching into his 80s with no thought of "retirement".

Monterey was filled with other active fossils professors who'd found their avocation and didn't want to turn it off. I guess other schools are similar. The good ones were very good but the bad ones were very bad. I can understand the attraction of doing stand-up in front of a captive audience students but I'm not sure which category they'd consider me in...

 

[sparkee]

Hi Nords,

Here's a link to a Richard Hamming (but says he invented Hamming codes):

http://www.todayinsci.com/cgi-bin/indexpage.pl?http://www.todayinsci.com/2/2_11.htm

born 1915, died 1998.

 

[Patrick]

SS dude at the retirement seminar said we're almost always better off taking the benefit as soon as we're eligible.

 

[SteveR]

Money in the pocket today is better than than a future promise. I even took my pension early to have cash to invest over a longer period that waiting for a slightly bigger check 15 years from now. I can make more on it by investing it than I could by waiting for it to increase as part of their defined benefit plan.

When I am 62, I will file for SS and take it as soon as I can. Take the money and run. Waiting for a future payback that might not happen is not my plan. Who knows when your number is up and you won't be around to spend it?
I plan on taking my IRA distributions early too. If the numbers continue to climb too high too soon, I will be faced with much larger required distributions and having to pay income tax on the whole distribution instead of smaller ones I can take after 59.5 I pay enough taxes without adding to the pile. I already feel like I have been supporting several families in addition to mine.

 

[JPatrick]

Is there any doubt?

 

[bosco]

While I recognize this is true for many, I'm not convinced this will be true for us. My DW and I love to travel. We are almost never home.

This will cost you less money....if you get old enough, you will be "almost never home" for free!! (if you have LTC insurance). You might think you will be flying around a lot when you get too old to hike and cycle, and you probably will for a while. But then there will come a time when you will fly around a lot without an airplane....even time travelling is possible!

 

[sgeeeee]

. . .But then there will come a time when you will fly around a lot without an airplane....even time travelling is possible! 

This sounds great. Fortunately, we both have some experience with this kind of travel from our younger days.

 

[HFWR]

Timothy Leary's dead... 8)

Moody Blues, Legend of a Mind

"In the Seventies we did acid; now we won't eat white bread!"

Source unknown

 

[Michael Moore]

Sadly, I seem to know a number of people in their early to mid 50s (my age) who are either dead or getting ready to enter that state. I'm all for the "get it while you can" school of thought as I seem to have misplaced my lifetime warranty that was given to me when I was born.

cheers,
Michael

 

[73ss454]

That's why I always get the extended warranty!!!