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Old 05-15-2020, 10:34 AM   #21
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Anyway, age 70 SS has been wonderful to have. It's nice to have that solid, reliable income hitting my checking account like clockwork each month. This income is especially welcome now that I am getting to be so old that finding work, if needed, would probably be harder for me than it once was; seniors aren't even hired as "Welcome to Walmart!" greeters any more.

Personally I don't happen to believe for a minute that anything will happen to reduce the SS of those presently receiving it. They might increase the age at which you can get the full amount, or increase paycheck deductions, or something like that, but I don't think those already getting it are in much peril (as long as inflation is kept in check). Bear in mind that I am no expert.
Agree 100%. I waited until 70 and don't regret it at all.
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We're a couple of 63 year-olds..
Old 05-15-2020, 10:42 AM   #22
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We're a couple of 63 year-olds..

Retired about 20 months ago, living frugally on small pensions + 401K withdrawals. We did intend to wait until 70 to take social security, but Covid convinced us to change our minds. We figure it's better to leave more of our investments alone to grow out of this, so I'm taking my social security at age 64. My husband was the higher earner, so he will wait until 70. This is a strategy that was considered before, but we are just stubborn enough to insist that we're both going to live to 90+.

We've decreased our 401K withdrawals by the same amount as the social security coming in. We have to be careful to keep our income low to qualify for the ACA healthcare for another 18 months.
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Old 05-15-2020, 12:02 PM   #23
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Am I to assume that most on this forum are at or near the maximum benefit allowed under Social Security? 35 years of work history plus a salary for each working year at or above the threshold for SS taxes would be needed. I suspect some here would qualify (including those who appear to have won the game many times over), but how many who were truly early retirees?
Not me.

I think many of us are here because we were good at LBYM and invested wisely over decades. I was always well under the SS deduction limit. Always. I retired 4 years before the my full retirement age with SS. I could have retired a few years earlier than that but I had to wait to find good medical insurance at a reasonable price. Once I found it, the decision was made.
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Old 05-15-2020, 12:16 PM   #24
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It is interesting to follow this thread on how so many have changed their thinking on this subject. Lol
At one time there was only one way to take SS and any other way almost like a crime.
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Old 05-15-2020, 12:17 PM   #25
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I've had the thought to back up to FRA @66.5-67 instead of 70 based on the same thinking as you. That's still 3.25 years away so I'm not going to act now. I still have this year and next on ACA, this year I am still playing the subsidy game. I'm going to take a hard look at next year during OE, it may be worthwhile to pay more so we can get into the cash positions in our retirement accounts.
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Old 05-15-2020, 12:20 PM   #26
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If the ACA goes away, as it has been speculated this year, we will be forced to take SS at 67 and 62 respectively to help pay for Healthcare for DW. Otherwise I will wait till 70 and DW will take hers at 65.
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Old 05-15-2020, 12:22 PM   #27
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It is interesting to follow this thread on how so many have changed their thinking on this subject. Lol
At one time there was only one way to take SS and any other way almost like a crime.
I have a few friends who are pretty well off. They said I was crazy not to take SS at 62
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Old 05-15-2020, 12:29 PM   #28
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Here are some older discussion threads on when to take SS. One has a poll.


https://www.early-retirement.org/for...2-a-90176.html


https://www.early-retirement.org/for...ssa-69230.html


I took mine at about 63 for health reasons.
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Old 05-15-2020, 12:30 PM   #29
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It is interesting to follow this thread on how so many have changed their thinking on this subject. Lol
At one time there was only one way to take SS and any other way almost like a crime.
I view it as a good thing, that dramatic events can bring to light the ability of us old geezers to re-evaluate the situation based on the new facts, rather than stick to dogma.

Same thing as a few years ago, I would have never considered and never did order my groceries to be picked by someone else.
Heck, I never even wanted DW doing it as I was that picky.
Now I'm happy to have total strangers picking my food and bagging it for me to pickup curbside.
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Old 05-15-2020, 12:42 PM   #30
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It is interesting to follow this thread on how so many have changed their thinking on this subject. Lol
At one time there was only one way to take SS and any other way almost like a crime.
Could be recency bias.
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Old 05-15-2020, 12:49 PM   #31
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It is interesting to follow this thread on how so many have changed their thinking on this subject. Lol
At one time there was only one way to take SS and any other way almost like a crime.
If you read the posts before your comment, you'll see that most people are keeping to their plan. There's just one person who said that they have changed their mind. Some others are watching & waiting.

Our plan is to have both of us wait till 70, but most calculators are suggesting that the lower earner take SS early and let the other one wait till 70. Our benefits are pretty close in value.
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Old 05-15-2020, 01:05 PM   #32
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Funny this topic came up (again) as I was running SS calculators for the umpteenth time. They still say I should take at 64 and DW at 70, but the NPV difference if I take at 62 is extremely small. With DW likely to lose her job and neither of us having pensions, I'm seriously considering taking at 62 so we have at least some money coming in. I'd hate to take 100% of our spending money out of savings starting so early - especially in this environment. My, how our financial outlook has changed in a couple of months!
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Old 05-15-2020, 01:09 PM   #33
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My plan of taking at FRA has not changed
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Old 05-15-2020, 01:10 PM   #34
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It is very hard to speculate on where SS is going. I read that because of the mounting debt, there was/is an "Eagle Plan" being circulated, it proposes buying off SS recipients with a lump sum (I read ~$10k) in exchange for something, perhaps lower distributions. Again all this is just speculation for now, but worrisome none the less.
Gee, we just printed a few trillion and gave it away. How many more trillions do we need to print to shore this thing up?

Just kidding...I think.
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Old 05-15-2020, 01:19 PM   #35
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Funny this topic came up (again) as I was running SS calculators for the umpteenth time. They still say I should take at 64 and DW at 70, but the NPV difference if I take at 62 is extremely small. With DW likely to lose her job and neither of us having pensions, I'm seriously considering taking at 62 so we have at least some money coming in. I'd hate to take 100% of our spending money out of savings starting so early - especially in this environment. My, how our financial outlook has changed in a couple of months!
What about if you check for the differences due to early death, I'm not sure but is there a difference if say your DW dies at age 69 (before collecting) , what are the numbers if you took at 62 instead of 64 ?
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Old 05-15-2020, 01:33 PM   #36
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I don't know either.
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Old 05-15-2020, 01:34 PM   #37
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What about if you check for the differences due to early death, I'm not sure but is there a difference if say your DW dies at age 69 (before collecting) , what are the numbers if you took at 62 instead of 64 ?
If she died at 69, I assume I would be able to switch over to her higher survivor benefits. In that case, I would have been better off taking SS at 62 (instead of 64).
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Old 05-15-2020, 01:42 PM   #38
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It is interesting to follow this thread on how so many have changed their thinking on this subject. Lol
At one time there was only one way to take SS and any other way almost like a crime.
There's 34,531 members. You're basing this off of 23 replies, some of which didn't even mention their plan?
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Old 05-15-2020, 02:17 PM   #39
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One last thing worth mentioning on when to take SS:

If you don't care about leaving an estate to your heirs ( A Big If for sure) you will have more money to spend for the rest of your life if you take SS at 70.

Quote:
Here is a pretty simple calculation for those that wish to spend more money in retirement and do not care about leaving an estate. For those that have a Big enough Portfolio and can afford to wait until 70 to take SS, you'll have more to spend every year of retirement.


https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/laurence-kotlikoff-maximize-my-ss-com-77660.html#post1604411
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Old 05-15-2020, 02:21 PM   #40
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Who would have thought how nice it is to read about another ongoing, never ending debate on when to take SS, instead of you-know-what.
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