John Greaney on Social Security

[Nords]

Greaney only adds to his website a half-dozen times a year, and it doesn't seem to have an RSS feed. (I use an app to e-mail me when his website changes.) He's just updated it with more tidbits on Social Security:
Social Security a better deal than I thought?

At current rates, a $100,000 premium would buy a 62-year-old about a $350/month benefit from an insurer with a high rating. That calculates to about $17/month for a $4,844 premium. The Social Security benefit I "bought" for $4,844 in FICA taxes is more than 50% higher than what an insurance company would offer.

He goes on to explain the "top 35 years" benefits calculation and why a dollar of SS is a better deal for an ER than it is for someone who maxed out their SS taxes for 35 years.

He also links to the SS calculator where you can play around with your own earnings record to see whether it's better to work full-time for "just one more year" or to cut way back to part-time.

 

[Lazarus]

He goes on to explain the "top 35 years" benefits calculation and why a dollar of SS is a better deal for an ER than it is for someone who maxed out their SS taxes for 35 years.

Yes it is. Working from 55 to 62 would only add abut $100 a month for me.

Also my wife is qualified for SS on her own. But half mine is greater than she can draw. So all the money she put in is effectively a tax that we get no benefit from.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

on SS but slightly off-topic.

I sorta maxed out on what SS would pay me a while back. By working in Canada and elsewhere, where I pay a miniscule amount to the local social insurance program, I get credit for US SS by treaty at a fraction of the cost. The return on investment for me to work in the US and pay into SS, giving me very little in incremental benefits, is very low.

 

[Alan]

Yes it is. Working from 55 to 62 would only add abut $100 a month for me.

Also my wife is qualified for SS on her own. But half mine is greater than she can draw. So all the money she put in is effectively a tax that we get no benefit from.

Same here, I had 22 years of SS credits when I ER'ed at 55, and the SS estimator showed very little increase if I had continued working another 7 or 8 years.

My wife also is entitled to her own SS, which is less than half mine, but we plan on her taking it at 62, then when I reach FRA I will file and suspend so that she will then get a bump up in payments. I'll then start taking mine at 70. (She is only a few months younger than me).

At least I think that's how it works, I've read so many threads on when to take it's hard to remember the facts (as the law stands now).

 

[clifp]

Thanks for posting this Nords. I don't regularly check intrcast (Greeny) website anymore. I guess I could use an app like that, but the Nords/ER.org is a pretty reliable way of getting new info about retirement.

Since Greany and my situation are virtually identically retired after only working ~20 years. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could get a modest bump in SS . So maybe I should write book or something, or get 1 day a week job.

 

[Nords]

So maybe I should write book or something, or get 1 day a week job.

Yeah, I've been rockin' on my royalties, but the real party starts with Social Security!

[/sarcasm]

 

[gerrym51]

SS has always been a better deal for low income people.

people on the high end who get near or exceed the yearly ss max never have gotton as much as per money put in as people on lw end.

no surprise