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I knew that voice sounded like Cannon. Interesting to note that what was considered a major disaster in 1961 consumed about 4% of the homes destroyed in this month's firestorm.

DW and I are the same age. She would get no SS on her own, but half my PIA if we wait until age 67. If we wait until 70 she gets nothing for those 3 years. On my own the break even age for taking SS at 67 vs 70 is 82. Including my spouse pushes the break even age out to 89. I had been...

I have a much less stressful life than I did when I was younger. A big part of that is not really worrying about the future since I know I don't have that much future to worry about. That's a gift I don't think I'd want to give up.

Do I get to be young again in the 1960s-70s or do I have to be young now. I'd definitely go for the former, but I'd give the latter a hard pass.

While they're certainly not out of danger I would think that, as the Santa Anas strengthen again, the winds will tend to push the fire away from these particular areas.

I'm guessing they mean the Northridge Quake of '94. I rode that one out 15 miles from the epicenter with little damage to my home, but a bookcase fell over and landed about a foot away from my head. That woke me up quick.

Even 35 years ago when I bought my house in SoCal everyone knew it was fire country and a major disaster would happen every few years during Santa Ana season (typically October-November). It's one of the reasons I bought a place on the SW side of town (look at all the fires and the NE side...

While I was initially trying to get at how many of us retired with few enough work years to take a significant hit in Social Security, I was also just hoping to read people's stories - always a favorite aspect of these polls on ER for me. So there are no wrong answers here.

Similar to me. My last 8 years were part time, but it still felt like a real job and I still hit the FICA limit during those years so I count them in my total.

If it felt like a real job to you then it probably counts. I guess what I was after was how limited career length impacted our PIA. I'd only exclude these shorter gigs if they don't significantly affect your PIA. (and yes, you have to decide what 'significantly' means)

With the (presumed) repeal of WEP and GPO and the prospect of my DW getting half my PIA in spousal benefits I've been thinking about the fact that my PIA is somewhat below maximum because of the limited number of years I worked. I retired after 27.5 years of 'real' work (and another half dozen...

Wishful thinking generates YouTube clicks. I'm not counting my chickens just yet, but I've seen no indication that Biden will not sign.

Pretty much all of the European capitals are rich in history and would be worth a visit. That said, often smaller cities are more interesting (and more easily walkable) Among the smaller cities that we really liked: Karlovy Vary in Czechia (but of the larger cities Prague is truly lovely as...

I ran a hang gliding school part time for about 10 years. Though it was a lot of fun at times, the fun:aggravation ratio declined over time and i closed the business around the time i turned 40. Nowadays it's hard to imagine I had the energy to do that alongside a full time 'real' job, but...

With ambition, a solid work ethic (and perhaps a touch of charisma) one can be a great success without much formal education. I possess none of these qualities and so needed 10 years of college to succeed.

Not to muddy the waters of this thread even more, but this will have a significant impact on my decision of when to take SS. With parents who lived well into their 90s I have long assumed I would claim at 70, but now that DW can get her full spousal benefit once I turn 68 the arithmetic changes...

I'm not holding my breath. Since file and suspend benefits only those wealthy enough to delay SS the optics just look bad. Granted, getting rid of GPO/WEP benefits wealthy SS recipients even more, but it could be sold as benefitting poor widows, teachers and cops (aka Mom and Apple Pie).

I guess this means I now should be bummed out about the elimination of 'file and suspend' a few years back. I ignored it at the time since GPO negated any spousal benefit DW might receive. Now it looks like we would have definitely taken advantage of it. And yes, I am looking a gift horse...

My tax torpedo is going to be more of a tax depth charge. With 65% of my assets in t-IRAs no matter what kind of Roth conversions I do i'm in for a serious IRMAA (and income tax) hit when I turn 73. Sure glad I'm delaying SS to 70. It should just about pay for the extra taxes/IRMAA.

Does 55 count as 50-55 or 55-60?

Yes, it's lousy fiscal policy (at least without some compensatory revenue increase), but if they hand me the money I'll still take it.

If this actually passes it would be pretty significant for us. Right now DW, a long time county employee, gets no spousal SS due to GPO. SS would increase her monthly income by about 30%. I don't know if this is particularly fair. We're already quite comfortable and don't need the raise -...

I'm always knocked out between 12 and 36 hours after my COVID shot. Last week was no different - felt crummy/tired for the full day after the shot, but fine the day after. Small price to pay. Almost five years in and neither my wife nor I have ever had COVID. Before others suggest that we...

Not a go bag, but an evacuation packing list. I was reminded of this again over the last couple of days when a big wildfire blew up in my area. As has always (so far) been the case, it missed me by miles - but it was close enough that I kept an eye on it all day. We've never had to evacuate...