That doesn't put it in any kind of perspective since none of us know what you imagined. What is the actual or % difference in benefits if you quit now vs working until FRA?It was worse than I imagined. I have aprox 25 high income years and the rest are pretty pathetic. If I replaced those low numbers with high numbers for the next nine years my benefits would be as projected by the SSA. But there is no way I'm going to continue working just for SSI benefits.
Well, presumably you'd be working for both the current salary AND higher future SS benefits. And if working longer allows you to delay taking SS and tapping other sources ... well, you get the idea. But that's the quandary we all have, or had -- personally, I stopped when the pain of commuting intersected with growing certainty that we had enough to fund a comfortable retirement. Then, unfortunately, 2008 came along, rewrote my income projections, and I went back to work consulting for another 5 years.It was worse than I imagined. I have aprox 25 high income years and the rest are pretty pathetic. If I replaced those low numbers with high numbers for the next nine years my benefits would be as projected by the SSA. But there is no way I'm going to continue working just for SSI benefits.
This calculator will only allow me to retire early and draw benefits at 62 as opposed to my FRA at 67. The difference is not much at all. It will not allow me to project zeros to FRA. I'll keep digging, just started really.
Try the SSA Retirement estimator. https://secure.ssa.gov/acu/ACU_KBA/main.jsp?URL=/apps8z/ARPI/main.jsp?locale=en&LVL=4
Try the SSA Retirement estimator. https://secure.ssa.gov/acu/ACU_KBA/main.jsp?URL=/apps8z/ARPI/main.jsp?locale=en&LVL=4
The best calculator is the ANYPIA you download from them as then you can see all the raw data and see all your earning years adjusted for inflation.
Then you can look under Wage-Indexed Formula section to see your lowest earning years so you know what you have to make to wipe it out...
Max SS for 2019 at age 65 is $2757 so I guess if you're making less than that you are leaving money on the table, the question is how much.
This assumes I will start benefits at 62 and can not be adjusted to FRA at 67
That may be the default, but if you click on add new estimate, you can input any age from 62 to 70.
The link I posted above does not require a download. All calculations are performed within your web browser and no info is transmitted over the internet. You can input the year you stop work and it displays a benefit amounts from ages 62-70.
But look at the results. It shows your benefit at 62. It shows your benefit at 67 and 70 IF you continue making the same $$$ you put as making to 60. It does not calculate making zero $$$$ to FRA.
When it asks what you made last year, input zero.
That doesn't put it in any kind of perspective since none of us know what you imagined. What is the actual or % difference in benefits if you quit now vs working until FRA?
For myself, I retired at 49, and didn't find that the missing years hurt all that much, though I can't put numbers on that since it's been so long. You seem to have just run it and have the numbers at hand.
Reduced my benefit at FRA of 67 by 7.4% or $211. I can live with that.