Computing SS income

[RetireBy90]

Starting this after following Midpac's great threads on Roth Conversions

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/retirement-tax-planning-income-optimization-99854.html
and
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/roth-conversions-trial-balloon-100894.html

So this is my first year without a paycheck and I'm starting conversions from TIRA to Roth. In trying to
compute my year end AGI I can get a monthly statement with YTD totals for income and taxes from military
and DW small county pension. DW started SS this year and I'm having a problem trying to get numbers for
income and taxes YTD since they have changed a couple times this year.

My questions:
Does anyone have a way to get YTD numbers from SS ?
Is total income from SS pre-medicare deductions or post ?
Will next year be as simple as Jan 2020 income * 12 ?

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[Bir48die]

Starting this after following Midpac's great threads on Roth Conversions

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/retirement-tax-planning-income-optimization-99854.html
and
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/roth-conversions-trial-balloon-100894.html

So this is my first year without a paycheck and I'm starting conversions from TIRA to Roth. In trying to
compute my year end AGI I can get a monthly statement with YTD totals for income and taxes from military
and DW small county pension. DW started SS this year and I'm having a problem trying to get numbers for
income and taxes YTD since they have changed a couple times this year.

My questions:
Does anyone have a way to get YTD numbers from SS ?
Is total income from SS pre-medicare deductions or post ?
Will next year be as simple as Jan 2020 income * 12 ?

Thanks for your assistance.

1) Yes. Did you go on My SS and set up your account? They have a link to earnings history.

2) On your SS statement you'll have gross pay but your check will reflect the Medicare deductions so your "check" will be net.

3) Not sure what you mean by this but your checks (direct deposits) are the same every month.

 

[RetireBy90]

1) Yes. Did you go on My SS and set up your account? They have a link to earnings history.

2) On your SS statement you'll have gross pay but your check will reflect the Medicare deductions so your "check" will be net.

3) Not sure what you mean by this but your checks (direct deposits) are the same every month.

Thanks for the response. I have signed into my SS and find the total monthly benefit for 2020 and recent payments or net deposits from SS. However they aren't all the same figure ($1274 in July and Aug, then $994 in Sept, Oct, and Nov). Then there is a one time payment listed. I'm sure the difference is in Sept we added income tax withholding. These figures are what was deposited but not how much is taxable income.


Can I just use total benefit amount times 6 (6 months of SS this year) or is taxable reported after Medicare deductions ?



Thanks again.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

When I turned 50, SSA began sending me each year a statement that shows every contribution I have made to SS starting from when I was 16 right up to the year I retired at 42. That statement also projects how much my SS pension will be at different ages.

I have been told that these statements tend to be very accurate.

My full retirement date with SS is when I hit 66 years and 10 months.

I have discusses it with my wife, she wants us to wait until we turn 72 before we tap the SS funds. For now we have our regular pension plus our portfolio income. I think her hesitancy is mostly because she does not know what to do with so much money.

 

[gwraigty]

I have discusses it with my wife, she wants us to wait until we turn 72 before we tap the SS funds. For now we have our regular pension plus our portfolio income. I think her hesitancy is mostly because she does not know what to do with so much money.

You don't get higher SS payments for waiting past 70.

 

[pb4uski]

+1 Waiting past 70 is the functional equivalent of making a donation of your SS to the government.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

You don't get higher SS payments for waiting past 70.

The statements that we get from SS each year show that the longer we wait, the more each monthly payment will be. Until we turn 72.

+1 Waiting past 70 is the functional equivalent of making a donation of your SS to the government.

Much of our income now goes to charity.

 

[gwraigty]

The statements that we get from SS each year show that the longer we wait, the more each monthly payment will be. Until we turn 72.

We've been getting SS statements for years, too, as do many on this forum, I'm sure. Does anyone else have a SS statement that projects an amount out to 72? Ours only projects out to 70, with good reason.

Retirement You have earned enough credits to qualify for benefits. At your current earnings rate, if you continue
working until...
your full retirement age (67 years), your payment would be about...
age 70, your payment would be about...
age 62, your payment would be about...

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

Clearly I misspoke, I hate how my cancer treatments make my mind fuzzy at times. My wife insists that she does not want to touch SS until we both turn 72.

I am thinking that is when distributions become mandatory.

I have a military pension, my wife has a tiny pension from DeCA, and we have Rental Real Estate income.

 

[RetireBy90]

Clearly I misspoke, I hate how my cancer treatments make my mind fuzzy at times. My wife insists that she does not want to touch SS until we both turn 72.

I am thinking that is when distributions become mandatory.

I have a military pension, my wife has a tiny pension from DeCA, and we have Rental Real Estate income.

I just checked online and my estimate shows 62, 66 and 4 months and 70. Please check again perhaps fuzzy mind got 62 and 70 merged to 72 ?

My understanding is you get no benefit of waiting past age 70 and I am unaware of a mandatory distribution of SS benefits. Your sounding like me when I get a fuzzy memory sometimes

 

[HI Bill]

Benefits top out at age 70. Absolutely giving up $ if you wait longer to start withdrawals.

 

[MissMolly]

Clearly I misspoke, I hate how my cancer treatments make my mind fuzzy at times. My wife insists that she does not want to touch SS until we both turn 72.

I am thinking that is when distributions become mandatory.

I have a military pension, my wife has a tiny pension from DeCA, and we have Rental Real Estate income.

Well, you must still be a little fuzzy because RMDs start at 70.5 not 72.

 

[timo2]

Clearly I misspoke, I hate how my cancer treatments make my mind fuzzy at times. My wife insists that she does not want to touch SS until we both turn 72.

I am thinking that is when distributions become mandatory.

I have a military pension, my wife has a tiny pension from DeCA, and we have Rental Real Estate income.

Now you could put the money in another account and not spend it for two years, but every month past 70 you don't take SS is money down the drain. You'll never get it back.
If you are alive at 70, there is no sane reason not to claim SS at 70. Just put that as a given in your withdrawal plan.

 

[MissMolly]

Now you could put the money in another account and not spend it for two years, but every month past 70 you don't take SS is money down the drain. You'll never get it back.
If you are alive at 70, there is no sane reason not to claim SS at 70. Just put that as a given in your withdrawal plan.

Technically, I believe you can wait until 6 months after you turn 70 and then claim retroactively back to when you were 70. So you would get one big check for the whole 6 months and then your normal check for reaching 70 going forward. Even if you wait longer than that, it's my understanding you can still claim back to 6 months, but no more than 6 months.

 

[VanWinkle]

Technically, I believe you can wait until 6 months after you turn 70 and then claim retroactively back to when you were 70. So you would get one big check for the whole 6 months and then your normal check for reaching 70 going forward. Even if you wait longer than that, it's my understanding you can still claim back to 6 months, but no more than 6 months.

Maybe to defer income for one more Roth Conversion before SS changes the AGI. i.e, wait until 70+6months to claim and receive it all in that tax year allowing for a larger Roth Conversion in the prior year?

 

[MissMolly]

That would work I would think. Or if you just want to get a big one-time check. Or if you just forgot at least you have little leeway to reclaim what you would otherwise miss out on.

 

[Out_the_Door]

When I turned 50, SSA began sending me each year a statement that shows every contribution I have made to SS starting from when I was 16 right up to the year I retired at 42. That statement also projects how much my SS pension will be at different ages.

You might want to run your SS numbers...the estimates on the SS statements uses a projection that assumes you will be earning money until 62 (or 67). SS payments use your highest 35 years and if you only have a 26 year work history (16 to 42) the SS calculation will add zero income for nine of the 35 years used in the calculation.

 

[gwraigty]

You might want to run your SS numbers...the estimates on the SS statements uses a projection that assumes you will be earning money until 62 (or 67). SS payments use your highest 35 years and if you only have a 26 year work history (16 to 42) the SS calculation will add zero income for nine of the 35 years used in the calculation.

This is generally known, I think, and not usually a problem for anyone who has had zero SS income for several years already. I don't have 35 years of work history, only about 12. I don't expect that to change. Yet, my estimated monthly SS benefit keeps increasing every year. I'd guess that OOF sees something similar from year to year.