My Social Security benefits say...

[dvalley]

When I log into SSA it shows the following. My question is, these are assuming I continue to work until age 62, 67 and 70? What if I stop now or in 5 yrs? how significantly low would they be? say at my planned retirement age of 50 (in year 2025)?

Quote:

You have earned enough credits to qualify for retirement benefits. At your current earnings rate, your estimated payment would be: At full retirement age (67): $3,082 a month At age 70: $3,828 a month At early retirement age (62): $2,158 a month Your estimates are based on the assumption that you will earn $128,400 a year from now until retirement.

[CardsFan]

Use the retirement estimator located here: https://secure.ssa.gov/acu/ACU_KBA/m...ale%3Den&LVL=4

You can enter zero for future earnings.

[dvalley]

I tried that but for some reason they can't verify my information. If I login successfully and then try the link it still asks and then errors out.
I guess I'm trying to confirm my understanding that the amounts shown is assuming I'll continue to work until the respective ages but if I stop working earlier then the benefits would be reduced?

[Big_Hitter]

we used to to SS calculations by hand back in the day with pay history....just sayin

i bet if you did a search you could find a pdf or xls that contains the logic you need to diy

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvalley I tried that but for some reason they can't verify my information. If I login successfully and then try the link it still asks and then errors out. I guess I'm trying to confirm my understanding that the amounts shown is assuming I'll continue to work until the respective ages but if I stop working earlier then the benefits would be reduced?

Make sure you are logged out of MySocial security. I know I had problems once when I was logged in.

[HenryD]

I found this useful. I used the details wherein to build a spreadsheet that I could play around with various scenarios offline.

https://www.kitces.com/blog/calculat...ly-retirement/

[HI Bill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvalley When I log into SSA it shows the following. My question is, these are assuming I continue to work until age 62, 67 and 70? What if I stop now or in 5 yrs? how significantly low would they be? say at my planned retirement age of 50 (in year 2025)?

For an exact estimate based on retiring early (before 62), you'll need to download, install, and run SS's AnyPIA calculator. You'll need to obtain your entire earnings history before you do this, and enter the data year by year, using $0 for the years that you'll be retired.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/anypia/download.html

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvalley I tried that but for some reason they can't verify my information. If I login successfully and then try the link it still asks and then errors out.

I've been on SS for several years now and the software may have changed, but the online estimator worked fine for me, and was either spot on or within a dollar or two, I forget now. I did have about a five-year period of zero W-2 income.

Maybe try a different browser, or with and without javascript?

[RunningBum]

Yes, they'll be reduced, but most people find they aren't reduced by too much. Especially if you already have 35 years with wages. This has been discussed a lot on here. Not sure what to search on but I'm surprised you haven't seen this already.

[steady saver]

My difficulty in using the ssa.gov calculator is that I can't seem to figure out how to figure out a delayed SS. For example, I put in 57 for years worked and then 0 for future earnings, but it will only show me what my benefit will be at age 62. No matter what I do. I want to know what my SS benefit would be if I retired at 57 and then took SS at full retirement (age 67) or at age 70, but not adding to it after age 57. I go round and round on this with that page and nothing I put in will give me what I'm looking for. I merely assumes my current income when I try to determine taking it at 67 or 70. What am I missing here?

[dvalley]

I tried different browsers too and they locked my account for too many attempts. I think there's some mixup with my information.

Anyway, I found this...I should be able to calculate based on this?

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/quickcalc/early_late.html

[dvalley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum Yes, they'll be reduced, but most people find they aren't reduced by too much. Especially if you already have 35 years with wages. This has been discussed a lot on here. Not sure what to search on but I'm surprised you haven't seen this already.

OK good to know. Yes I will have at least 35 yrs by then. I probably missed it because I just didn't think much about SS until just now. I've been guesstimating $19k a yr (taking it at 62) for my calculations. So anything more will be icing on the cake.

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steady saver My difficulty in using the ssa.gov calculator is that I can't seem to figure out how to figure out a delayed SS. For example, I put in 57 for years worked and then 0 for future earnings, but it will only show me what my benefit will be at age 62. No matter what I do. I want to know what my SS benefit would be if I retired at 57 and then took SS at full retirement (age 67) or at age 70, but not adding to it after age 57. I go round and round on this with that page and nothing I put in will give me what I'm looking for. I merely assumes my current income when I try to determine taking it at 67 or 70. What am I missing here?

If you know the age 62 amount, isn’t it 75% of the FRA amount and age 70 benefit is 132% of FRA benefit?

[HI Bill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz4cash If you know the age 62 amount, isn’t it 75% of the FRA amount and age 70 benefit is 132% of FRA benefit?

It's not that simple. The online estimator assumes you'll earn the same amount from the present to your FRA. If you have 17 years of $0 earnings, it cuts the benefits. That's why I suggested using the anyPIA Excel spreadsheet.

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HNL Bill It's not that simple. The online estimator assumes you'll earn the same amount from the present to your FRA. If you have 17 years of $0 earnings, it cuts the benefits. That's why I suggested using the anyPIA Excel spreadsheet.

If you use the Retirement Estimator (not my social security), you have the option to "add a new estimate". It asks when you plan to stop working, and your average earnings until then. For the past, it uses your actual earnings.

Not perfect, but pretty darn close, and a lot easier than entering all your historical income.

[GenXguy]

The online calculators at ssa.gov are limited. I use the following so that I can put in any early retirement year and use ages such as 65, 67, and 70 for taking benefit.


https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/anypia.html

[steady saver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HNL Bill It's not that simple. The online estimator assumes you'll earn the same amount from the present to your FRA. If you have 17 years of $0 earnings, it cuts the benefits. That's why I suggested using the anyPIA Excel spreadsheet.

Okay, I'll try that. I'd gotten on their site and their dire warning about how complicated it was threw me off. I was hoping there was a simple solution. I'll buck up and try it. Thanks.

[GenXguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardsFan If you use the Retirement Estimator (not my social security), you have the option to "add a new estimate". It asks when you plan to stop working, and your average earnings until then. For the past, it uses your actual earnings. Not perfect, but pretty darn close, and a lot easier than entering all your historical income.

I've tried it in the past and tried again just now to see if it's any better, but it still says, "If you select an age prior to 62, we will estimate your benefits starting at age 62."

I've found delaying my benefits until age 65 to 70 increases my benefit significantly, which is what I plan to do, so the "retirement estimator" won't provide a useful benefit estimate for me. I really like the downloadable detailed calculator. You only need to enter your historical earnings one time, and then you can save calculations and make new calculations without having to enter it all again.

Here's a nice online calculator that allows you to simply copy and paste your earnings history directly from the ssa.gov site, and it will let you select how many years you will work and your expected income, and then it will give you a list of what your benefit will be for various ages you may opt to choose to start taking your SS benefits. It also shows where your earnings are in respect to the SS bend points.

https://socialsecurity.tools/

Example of increasing monthly and yearly benefit by holding off on benefits:
62 Jun 2019 $1,276.. $15,312
63 Jun 2020 $1,353.. $16,236
64 Jun 2021 $1,466.. $17,592
65 Jun 2022 $1,579.. $18,948
66 Jun 2023 $1,692.. $20,304
67 Jun 2024 $1,827.. $21,924
68 Jun 2025 $1,962.. $23,544
69 Jun 2026 $2,098.. $25,176
70 Jun 2027 $2,233.. $26,796

[Kim451]

I had problems with the downloaded PIA calculator. The online Retirement Estimator - using $0 as my income last year so it uses 0 for the remaining years - works ok but seems to have a different answer every time I've tried it. Since the numbers show a slight upward creep though (COLA?) I just go with the current estimate and believe it should be slightly higher when I do start pulling SS.

As a long time gov employee, I'm used to it though; they did the same thing with my pension estimates.

[camfused]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GenXguy Here's a nice online calculator...

That is the one I use too, and highly recommend.