I applied for Social Security!

[haha]

Everyone has to make their own decision and the arguments both ways are good. But Ha, I worked and paid most of my life and would not be happy to wait, die early and be proud to leave my money to a government that will find other things to do with it. Actually I'd be pissed if I waited, died and didn't get a dime. (heh)

Yeah, I should have put a smiley behind that. I got the idea from the posters who are happy to pay huge taxes, because they have high incomes. I figured that meant that many people are not as selfish as I am.

I nevertheless am not concerned about what I might or might not leave on the table. I look upon it literally as longevity insurance. I forgot what it is called, but some Asians have or had a type of last man standing scheme. It is the sort of egalitarian social contract that appeals to me, unlike most of the others imposed from above, where my role is to pay, and someone else's role is to accept payment.

 

[Budman]

Ha,
My analysis did not make the assumption that I would save the money to buy an annuity at age 70. Rather, it simply took the cashflow stream at age 70 forward vs. the cashflow stream at age 62 forward and inflated each stream with an assumed annual inflation rate, tax effected each streams annual cashflows, then discounted the cashflows of each stream at an assumed aftertax discount rate (discount rate = to a conservative portfolio rate of return). The age at which the resulting present values of each cashflow stream were equal was about age 88. Undiscounted, the breakeven was about age 78. The breakeven age provided me with a marker to assess the likelyhood of my making it to breakeven given my family's life span, other medical factors, lifestyes, etc. I believe I have less of a probability of living past the breakeven age of 88 since both of my parents died at 84.

I could be wrong all of this, but, I tried to make the best decision possible for me, given the assumptions going forward. Ha...its all a crapshoot ya know! I hope my dice are hot!

 

[Budman]

, and none of the gurus seem to factor in the growth on that money.

.

Very surprising that the government and the gurus do not discuss the impact of portfolio return on the breakeven age. It seems misleading. You got to be careful of what you hear and read.

 

[Moemg]

I think one thing you have to factor into your decision is your health . If you arrive at 62 with a few chronic medical problems and maybe a past Cancer or heart problem history you are foolish not to take it . My husband's dad lived to be 96 but he died at 60 so longevity isn't always a sure thing .

 

[Jake46]

I signed up online in August & first deposit hit my account in September. Didn't have to provide copies of any documents. Because I have an 11 year-old daughter, my wife & daughter were also eligible for benefits. Wife had to go to local office with key documents.

To provide more detail: I applied online on August 1. After completing the form, a question appeared asking when I wanted to start benefits. August was an option so I checked it. Deposit hit my account in September (second Wednesday due to my birthdate).

 

[Zero]

Very surprising that the government and the gurus do not discuss the impact of portfolio return on the breakeven age. It seems misleading. You got to be careful of what you hear and read.

Well I do declare (in Scarlett O'hara voice) it appears the government may be worried that the Social Security "free money pot" might dry up if everyone decided that 62 was the age to begin receiving. And at the worst of times, with SS looking frail and just as the boomers come storming in.

That would deprive them of a huge piggy bank for pork barrel spending and such.

I suspect we may soon see an option added to the Early, Normal, Late Retirement Age, it will be called Last Man Standing Retirement Age. A good marketing tool might be:
Age 62 ERA = 75%
Age 66 NRA = 100%
Age 70LRA = 132%
Age 90 LMSRA = 400%

I can see the guru's headline now, "Golden Opportunity on Amazing New SS Benefit Increase".

 

[haha]

I could be wrong all of this, but, I tried to make the best decision possible for me, given the assumptions going forward. Ha...its all a crapshoot ya know! I hope my dice are hot!

Budman, I did not intend to criticize your analysis, or your decision. Only to point out that different people will have different ways of framing the question, and therefore will arrive at different answers even though everyone’s calculations be accurate. So one person’s analysis can be completely accurate, but nevertheless not a good copy for another person with different needs or perceptions.

My early age check would have been quite small, and I wanted a greater annuity allocation than that. So my decision was based on comparative annuities from Uncle and insurance companies. In any case, I will spend SS as it comes in, helping to take some pressure off my portfolio, rather than save it up and try to grow it, as I have no other pensions or non-portfolio sources of support. So an analysis such as yours would have been quite abstract given my plans.

In December of 2008 I did want money now in preference to money later, as it seemed that what was available in the stocks and bond markets was worth the change. Were it not for the do-over, that is what I would have had- no 62, not 70, but an intermediate age.

Ha

 

[DeborahB]

Well I'm excited! I filled out the form to apply for SS on Tuesday (Jan. 4) and today got a call to verify some info. I turned 62 last June. My SS starts with a payment in February for all of January, it's not pro-rated.

She said when the info on 2010 earnings comes in (from the IRS... unknown as to date) if it affects the amount they will recalculate it and pay me the difference, retroactively to Jan 1, 2011. This has been way simpler than I thought it would be. No wait, no fuss.. and I get money coming in.

 

[Zero]

thinker25, that little dancing Smiley is like a "Got my SS check comin in" mojo workin thang.

I expect Keb Mo to write a song about "Got my SS check comin in" and maybe use the "Flat Broke and Busted" style.

Congrats and glad it is comin in easy, and you now got party money.

 

[DeborahB]

thinker25, that little dancing Smiley is like a "Got my SS check comin in" mojo workin thang.

I expect Keb Mo to write a song about "Got my SS check comin in" and maybe use the "Flat Broke and Busted" style.

Congrats and glad it is comin in easy, and you now got party money.

Thanks! Oh, you have no idea how accurate that is - I'm going on a blues cruise in 2 weeks! Keb Mo actually was on the first one I did, a year ago. Great live, by the way...

www.bluescruise.com It's my 3rd one in about a year and I already booked the next one (they do 2 a year). Highly recommend this if you like live music. 24/7 bands playing and jamming...

My mojo is definitely going to be working - and I plan to dance like nobody's watching...