Yes, and I want her to have the greatest guaranteed and COLA adjusted income she can after I die and until her death. We can afford to forego SS until I reach 70 (and then she reaches FRA) and Social Security will be our sole 'pension' unless we or she chooses to purchase a SPIA (single premium immediate annuity) at some point.
And not waiting until FRA to start survivor benefits will reduce the survivor check.Yes waiting till FRA will get a bigger spousal check, but you have to weigh that against getting no check (spousal) during the waiting period.
If you don't care, then no other reasons matter.But I didn't, because (a) I figured I didn't care
Probably.My DW FRA benefit on her own record is more than the 50% spousal, can I assume she will file for her own and not file for spousal?
A scam? LOL!Crabby et. al - I fail to understand your idea that controlling your own money is a bad idea. You guys do understand that the entire IRA concept is a scam?
Match an IRA? Did you mean a 401k? If so, it's not at all very rare for an employer match.It was "acceptable" back in the days when employer's matched but that is now very rare.
Jolly, you are absolutely correct that you do not have to spend your RMD's...you can just transfer your equities to an after tax account...and then pay the appropriate taxes. Your spending money mainly comes from 3 places: SSA, pension, and IRA withdrawals. You can adjust the last one every year based on your needs. You can spend as much or as little as you wish...until you run out of money in you IRA.
And not waiting until FRA to start survivor benefits will reduce the survivor check.
Lots of things to consider. Don't do it individually, do them together.
Use https://opensocialsecurity.com/ or https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/
gayl - yes, it is a lot of work with some stress. She slacked off a lot this year as we have realized we don't and are unlikely to touch any of this money. Our pensions are $96k a year and our expenses are $24k a year so we aren't sure who we are earning this money for. We also have $350k in cash from our last (and final) house sale back in the US. That is kept in reserve for medical emergencies which has turned out to be something we overestimated on living here in Hungary where excellent medical is cheap.
Speaking on that as it pertains to Medicare is another whole entire conversation. Being retired military with the Tricare For Life as an option it was a difficult choice to make. In order to keep TFL you must enroll in and pay for Medicare Part B. That is currently $135 a month per person. Medicare is useless if you live outside the US and as it turns out so is Tricare Overseas. We tried to use it but it is so poorly run the error rate is over 400% for claims. You pay out of pocket and file a claim to get 60% back if they approve it. New wrinkles are you now must pay by check or credit card for medical claims. Here in Hungary it is 100% cash for the state run medical systems or even private doctors. Checks are not used anywhere outside the US so that isn't an option either so basically none of our claims meet their requirements and are rejected. So, to keep Medicare in the event that we return to the US requires paying $3,240 a year. Our medical expenses never exceed $3000 a year (including an episode in the Cardiac Intensive Care for Right Atrial Fibrillation - 2 weeks at the Cardiac Trauma center which happens to be just down the street) and most years is a lot less than $1000. So, we made the tough determination that we are never returning to the US and will continue to utilize the Hungarian and worst case German medical systems and pay in cash. I will be getting my Hungarian citizenship next year and can then enroll in the national health insurance which covers 100% of everything BUT you have to wait for services (similar to Canada or the UK). My wife is Russian so she has that option as well which isn't bad. The monthly cost for the Hungarian Medical is a tad under $25 a month and covers everything (normal) and major discounts on pharmaceuticals which are already 90% less than in the US. For actual services I would continue to pay cash if I need something major quickly and we have the cash reserves to cover serious problems. I only mention all of this for ex-patriate American retired military facing this decision when they hit 65.
No, it really doesn't, because it doesn't show how much the $12K you'd leave in your investment account would be earning if you took SS at 62. It's a very simple picture, and it doesn't do a real world comparison.
I was clearly talking about waiting to kick in the spousal benefit....not the survivor benefit. Why do you feel the need to always add unnecessary corrections to people's comments?
major discounts on pharmaceuticals which are already 90% less than in the US.
The real decider for us is GPO and not WEP. DW will get zero spousal/widower SS benefit based on my earnings because of her pension. I feel like I need to protect the savings nest egg for her in case I take a dirt nap sooner than I hope to do so. I understand this could be to the detriment of my overall SS benefit if things go as planned and we hope.
This is perhaps the most interesting comment made in the OM's posting. I would love to get a clear, unbiased analysis of drug prices from country to country. I'm sure fear of high medical costs keeps a lot of people from FIREing. It certainly pushed me to work another few years.
I returned from a trip to Central/Eastern Europe a few weeks ago. To help with some knee pain, I paid about $20 for a large OTC tube of a topical NSAID while there. A tube 1/5 the size bought in the USA requires an Rx, and cost an acquaintance at least $40 a few years ago.
You wrote "Yes waiting till FRA will get a bigger spousal check, but you have to weigh that against getting no check (spousal) during the waiting period."
It may have been clear to you, but I wanted to remind people that you have to weigh more than just spousal benefits against getting no check for a while. I felt that was necessary.
In the future, please refrain from editing or making editorial comments on any of my posts. I consider the way you go about this rude. Put me on ignore if that might make it easier. I'm perfectly capable of editing or adding to my posts, if another poster has a question. Thanks...
Does any one else think it is ironic that a post titled "clear article about when to take social security" can generate over 190 responses? Mostly disagreeing with one another?
Just an observation.
Does any one else think it is ironic that a post titled "clear article about when to take social security" can generate over 190 responses? Mostly disagreeing with one another?
Just an observation.