Open Social Security

[steady saver]

I had posted a response to another thread on Feb 2 (just 20 days ago) about plugging in our numbers to Open Social Security and being surprised to find that it recommended me applying now (as in receive funds in Feb which is not possible...) and DH taking his at age 70 (We are both currently 62.) Well I left to go help mom with paperwork (Dad passed away recently) and just got back home. Went back to open social security to plug in a revised number (very slight increase in DH's PIA number from his Feb SS statement) and now it is saying I should get mine now but that DH should start his at age 68 and 2 months. And the overall guestimate was quite a bit lower for our lifetime estimate. While I'm not concerned about it, I was genuinely surprised. Has anyone else run into this? And on another note, it makes me wonder if I should even apply for mine now since we don't need it. When I plugged in later dates for me taking mine, the overall estimate for monies received goes even lower. I guess I don't understand this like I thought I did.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Is your PIA less than half of you husband's PIA? If it is, then it may be suggesting that your spouse claim earlier than 70 yo so that you can then file spousal benefit (discounted half of his PIA because you claim early) as soon as he files his. The higher PIA that you have now input for him affects "total" amount that you both will receive.

 

[audreyh1]

Which life table did you select? If it’s not the same as before that will change the result.

Also I always look at the difference between suggested ages and a couple of different planned ages. The lifetime differences aren’t that great.

 

[Marc]

I recently noticed the same thing; it no longer recommended I wait until 70. I also went to SSA website; it showed long periods of time wherein my initial payments would be the same even if I waited as long as ten months (e.g., 68 and 1 month to 68 and 11 months). I also could no longer find my PIA on SSA nor could I find my wife's PIA on SSA I assume because she has already started benefits.

Something must have happened on opensocialsecurity website.

Marc

 

[steady saver]

Which life table did you select? If it’s not the same as before that will change the result.

Also I always look at the difference between suggested ages and a couple of different planned ages. The lifetime differences aren’t that great.

Hmmm, well there wasn't a "life table" on the form for open social security. I just filled in my PIA, my spouse's PIA, our ages...

 

[Midpack]

Which life table did you select? If it’s not the same as before that will change the result.

Also I always look at the difference between suggested ages and a couple of different planned ages. The lifetime differences aren’t that great.

+1. Opensocialsecurity is a great resource, but I don’t recommend anyone use it without consciously choosing a life table. Makes a huge difference unless you happen to match their default. You can even choose specific ages for evaluation.

 

[steady saver]

Is your PIA less than half of you husband's PIA? If it is, then it may be suggesting that your spouse claim earlier than 70 yo so that you can then file spousal benefit (discounted half of his PIA because you claim early) as soon as he files his. The higher PIA that you have now input for him affects "total" amount that you both will receive.

Yes, my PIA is less. I guess what I don't understand is how we've waited just a month later and it was a significant lifetime average difference (roughly $200K). In the scheme of things, it's not going to impact us greatly one way or the other. It's just perplexing me that I can't figure this out. I hear what you're saying though and it makes sense on one hand but it was already suggesting that I'd be taking a spousal benefit when he took his benefit at his age 70.

 

[steady saver]

+1. Opensocialsecurity is a great resource, but I don’t recommend anyone use it without consciously choosing a life table. Makes a huge difference unless you happen to match their default. You can even choose specific ages for evaluation.

Thanks. Okay I looked up an actuarial table on the SS website. But it was pretty generic, saying he probably has 19 more years and I probably have 22 more years. I'm assuming, short of a fatal accident, that I will live considerable longer as I have longevity in my family (dad passed at 94, mom is currently 87 and doing reasonably well, my health is very good). DH seems to have a lower longevity other than a maternal GF that died in his early 90's despite Huntington's disease. His mom has Huntington's and she is 85. I'm guessing she has up to a couple more years, maybe not. Her quality of life is very poor but she is alive.

Unfortunately we're assuming DH will receive the same diagnosis, so health will decline but he will likely still live into his mid to later 80's with quality healthcare. In general, we expect me to outlive him which sucks knowing that is likely true. I don't know, I'm now starting to think why not just take mine now? It's not much but psychologically we might just see it as "fun money" that we might not otherwise think about spending indiscriminately, whereas when i'm old we/I am not likely to just spend. I'll revert back to "I really don't need anything."

 

[RetiredHappy]

Yes, my PIA is less. I guess what I don't understand is how we've waited just a month later and it was a significant lifetime average difference (roughly $200K). In the scheme of things, it's not going to impact us greatly one way or the other. It's just perplexing me that I can't figure this out. I hear what you're saying though and it makes sense on one hand but it was already suggesting that I'd be taking a spousal benefit when he took his benefit at his age 70.

Maybe his higher PIA now skews towards taking earlier because then you can collect your spousal benefit 1 year 10 months sooner. You can play with it and put his PIA a tad lower and see what happens.

 

[steady saver]

Maybe his higher PIA now skews towards taking earlier because then you can collect your spousal benefit 1 year 10 months sooner. You can play with it and put his PIA a tad lower and see what happens.

Isn't that interesting? i did what you suggested and put a slightly lower amount in for him but it cut the lifetime return down a fair amount. Now THAT makes sense, but his PIA going up since I did it before causing a lower lifetime amount doesn't.

I guess in the end it doesn't matter. I go down these rabbit trails because I find it all interesting but I often walk away with answers that have nothing to do with my micro analysis. After Audrey and Midpack's questions/comments about longevity, it really did get me to considering how DH and I need to practice spending money on fun, NOW. We aren't big consumers (uh, like many here) but it does encourage me to think about how we could practice with spending that modest amount of money each month on experiences to just enjoy life and have fun.

Thank you all for your responses. I really appreciate this group.

 

[N02L84ER]

If you check the box at the top of the Open Social Security entry page, you can select other mortality tables, a different real discount rate, and other options. I do not know how often the webpage updates the real discount rate (yield on 20-year TIPS), but it is possible this value has changed between the two different runs that you did.
"A "discount rate" is necessary to reflect the fact that the sooner a dollar is received, the sooner it can be invested. The default discount rate is the yield on 20-year TIPS, (which is currently 2.24%)."
HTH

 

[steady saver]

If you check the box at the top of the Open Social Security entry page, you can select other mortality tables, a different real discount rate, and other options. I do not know how often the webpage updates the real discount rate (yield on 20-year TIPS), but it is possible this value has changed between the two different runs that you did.
"A "discount rate" is necessary to reflect the fact that the sooner a dollar is received, the sooner it can be invested. The default discount rate is the yield on 20-year TIPS, (which is currently 2.24%)."
HTH

Yes, thanks! That really did help! I'd not seen that feature before. I plugged in different numbers and it's brought up a new possibility - just take it at 67 - or later if we decide to - but in the meantime, take that "fun money" from our current cash account and do the same thing as if if was SS...I mean, good grief, why not?

Thank you for posting...it seems that for us, stressing over when to take it for optimal gain is a fool's quest. The biggest insight from this exercise has been the encouragement of of taking a set amount of money now, each month, regardless of where it comes from (SS or our cash account) and allocating that for absolutely "whatever."

Again, thank you so much.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, thanks! That really did help! I'd not seen that feature before. I plugged in different numbers and it's brought up a new possibility - just take it at 67 - or later if we decide to - but in the meantime, take that "fun money" from our current cash account and do the same thing as if if was SS...I mean, good grief, why not?

Thank you for posting...it seems that for us, stressing over when to take it for optimal gain is a fool's quest. The biggest insight from this exercise has been the encouragement of of taking a set amount of money now, each month, regardless of where it comes from (SS or our cash account) and allocating that for absolutely "whatever."

Again, thank you so much.

Scroll down to the bottom where you can compare their recommendation against other starting dates. You can see how much or how little of a difference it makes.

 

[steady saver]

Scroll down to the bottom where you can compare their recommendation against other starting dates. You can see how much or how little of a difference it makes.

Thanks Audrey, yes, I'd played around with that. It was helpful too.

 

[Exchme]

It uses the current yield on Long TIPS as the discount rate to make decisions. When that moves up, it favors earlier claiming. To get big differences in claim age when there are small movements in TIPS yields, it means the difference in value between claim ages is very small.

Other considerations can be far more important, so you need to look a the overall plan. If you need ACA premium credits or need to to Roth Conversions, those are far bigger deals than small differences in lifetime SS benefits, so the best plan in those cases would be to defer SS, letting the benefits grow.

 

[Out of Steam]

I made a final run of Open Social Security, since my wife and I have now filed for benefits, and its results are consistent with what I have gotten in the past -- with the difference of WEP repeal.

It was useful in assuring that my wife and I met our goal of limiting our loss of benefits from filing early.