Poll: Your Estimated SS Benefit at 62

[NW-Bound]

So if someone claimed to belong to such a group and did all the documentation, I wonder if they have to periodically recertify? Or, can a person just be Amish-for-a-day, get out of social security, and then continue to worship and adhere to the tenets of the religion in a more private, personal way for the next 40 years (I mean, in such a way that he wouldn't actually attend services or keep in touch with the rest of the flock).

If you contribute to SS for 40 quarters and then get religion for 30 years, do they reduce your SS check under some type of WEP-like proviso for the religiously observant?

Why do I learn of every loophole too late to use it?

I don't think you can evade SS that way, by claiming to be an isolated Amish.

The Amish are a true self-sufficient group. When one needs to go to the hospital, they would pitch in to pay for their members in need. So, they are truly self-insured and do not pose a drain on the SS and Medicare.

I cannot be an Amish though, not just on religion ground but because of their way of life and culture. They rejected electricity and I am an electronic/electrical engineer. Duh! I am also too old to learn High German. Heck, I cannot even learn any German.

Without electricity, lighting is tough, but their women do have kitchen appliances to help them. They have cloth washers and even bread dough mixers that run on compressed air! I still don't see how one can run a CPU by a mechanical means without converting to electricity. So, no Web surfing, no Internet, no ER forum BS'ing. Exactly the things that the Amish consider anathema!

Think about it, Samclem. Would you rather pay the SS tax so you can post here?

 

[Midpack]

$1411. Avg of $1813 & $1008, but not counting on it...

 

[F4mandolin]

Hmmm, couple of points. Mine is estimated at $1394 as of last Spring, i have a UK wife who is supposed to get the spousal approx 50% of my amount. So around $1050 for the average for both of us. Another question about the pension somebody early on mentioned.....will my work pension count as "earned income"? I am also a school teacher (lucky to get $16k a year) but I was under the impression (never trust MY impressions....) that the earned income was for actual working income.

 

[jdw_fire]

Another question about the pension somebody early on mentioned.....will my work pension count as "earned income"?

no

 

[teejayevans]

I am not a public worker, hence would not even be aware of the recent changes in SS if I did not first learn about it from this thread:

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f52/social-security-fairness-act-of-2009-h-r-235-a-43380.html



Interesting! I wonder when the last time was that the IRS received that form. Note the requirement that a religious group must be in existence since 1950. It prevents any new sect from being formed for the purpose of avoiding SS.

I'm assuming they get it all the time from amish community.
TJ

 

[Alan]

$1,721 for me, $837 for DW so avg of $1,279.

We plan on DW taking hers at 62 and me applying for spousal benefit when I get to Full age at 66 and x months then applying for my own benefit at 70. Of course, many things may change over the next 15 years...

 

[Rambler]

We will be in the range of $1000. I have maxed out for 12 years, but since I was local hire in a foreign country for 8 years prior to moving back to the US and getting on a US payroll, and since DW only has 4 quarters (spousal benefit only), and since I will be retiring way earlier than 62, we won't get much. When I do my calculations, I never include SS in them anyway, because I'm not sure if it will be there, if it will be means tested, etc. Rather not count on it. Will it be icing on the cake? Well, yes, but since I did earn it and pay it, I should have my cake and my icing too...but no guarantees.

R

 

[NW-Bound]

I'm assuming they get it all the time from amish community.
TJ

Of course! Why did I assume that once one has declared himself an Amish, he does not have to submit the same form every year? Or that their offsprings do not have to be certified in some form. It can't be so easy! Oh well, I am sure they would be glad to comply.

Now, there is a much smaller religious group in North Dakota, but with a similar practice of rejecting modern technologies. I forget the name, but wonder if they are also exempted from SS. How many are there? I am more curious now.

PS. I remember now. They are the Hutterites. And yes, they are also exempted as I just checked out. In a recent article, in National Geographic if my memory serves, a Hutterite elder said they accepted no new members. They led a hard life, he said, and that it was tough enough for born members to stay in.

 

[Sam]

I'm not sure what the maximum SS benefit is for an individual, but I do question anything more than $2,000 per month at age 62

Edit: I found this on the Elder Law website:
Since benefits at age 62 are reduced by 25%, that would indicate the maximum monthly number on Al's poll would be under $2,000.

I agree. Have to wonder how people come up with number greater than $2,000?

 

[HFWR]

$1579

 

[harley]

I agree. Have to wonder how people come up with number greater than $2,000?

I suspect it might have something to do with not being able to read instructions (see other thread).

I added our SS together and voted. There's no option to change it. I should have been in the $1251 - $1500 range, not the $1751 - $2000 range.

 

[SarahW]

I suspect it might have something to do with not being able to read instructions (see other thread).

^^ Yeah, that. I totally missed the "at 62" part. Duh.

 

[cashbalancetrouble]

I am hoping it will still be there in full.