Your age question

[tamrock]

I'm 66 and 3 mo. I've been working out of home for decades now. I forget ever morning I'm at the age where I should be thinking about collecting SS when the work day begins. Tell me the easiest way to get this SS thing underway?

 

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[Heavygold4me]

G

I'm 66 and 3 mo. I've been working out of home for decades now. I forget ever morning I'm at the age where I should be thinking about collecting SS when the work day begins. Tell me the easiest way to get this SS thing underway?

go to the social security website and you can start the ball rolling

 

[pepperj]

I'm 66 and 3 mo. I've been working out of home for decades now. I forget ever morning I'm at the age where I should be thinking about collecting SS when the work day begins. Tell me the easiest way to get this SS thing underway?

G

go to the social security website and you can start the ball rolling

Good advise on getting it started as it will take time to get it all through.
I have to give our bean counters up here some credit as they mail the application forms out a year in advance.
Need the Mrs signature also as the mate gets 1/2 when the dirt gets deep.

 

[tamrock]

G

go to the social security website and you can start the ball rolling

That's what i keep hearing. I hate doing everything online these days because if it says won't except missing a must fill out field, I then have to look for it. Sure miss the days when a person would just say it's right there ya dummy. What makes my job so enjoyable is I am that voice that picks up the phone every time and my customers love it. Batta-Boom, Batta- Bing, all done in less than 60 seconds, Guess I'll get one of the kids to give me a hand with the slow-mo, way of doing things we do, these days.

 

[RGINN]

I started at 66. I can work as much as I want to with no penalty. I do about 80 hour weeks. The government gives me a little raise every year, plus I get a raise for how much I work cause I still pay social security. I wind up having to pay the Feds taxes every year, but one month's SSI check covers that. Right now, there's is no 'retire' in my immediate future.

 

[oldkoot]

I started drawing my social security at 62 it cost me $462 dollars per month taking earl retirement but having said that I could have waited until I was 65, none of us know how long until our number is up

say you wait until full retirement age or you wait until you are 65 and you would collect $1700 per month but you decide to take early retirement at 62 and you collect $1200 per month 1200 x 36 months you will collect $43200 in that three years then if you wait until you full retirement and you then collect $1700 that first check you have lost $41500 by waiting an extra 3 years thats how i looked at it, Do you have any guarantees that in waiting 3 years you will live long enough to collect that extra $41500 again no one knows when their number is up, the numbers I used in this are just an example and numbers I pulled out of my behind

True story back in 2019 my wife was struck by a hit and run driver while she was walking (thank god she is still with me)
the hit and run was April 1,2019 when that happened, I received a call from our best friends wife,me thinking she was calling me back since I had called them to let them know my wife was in the hospital because of the hit and run, but NO my best friends wife was calling me to inform me that my best friend had passed away on April 1,2019 my friend was in his late 60s early 70s he kept putting off drawing his SS and because of his passing and procrastinating he never collected a dime of his SS and because of his unwillingness to plan for the future it ended up being a nightmare for his wife.

that was the big factor in me deciding to not wait an extra 3 years to get a paltry dollar amount extra on my SS check and i have no regrets with my decision to not wait

 

[newnan man]

I started drawing my social security at 62 it cost me $462 dollars per month taking earl retirement but having said that I could have waited until I was 65, none of us know how long until our number is up

say you wait until full retirement age or you wait until you are 65 and you would collect $1700 per month but you decide to take early retirement at 62 and you collect $1200 per month 1200 x 36 months you will collect $43200 in that three years then if you wait until you full retirement and you then collect $1700 that first check you have lost $41500 by waiting an extra 3 years thats how i looked at it, Do you have any guarantees that in waiting 3 years you will live long enough to collect that extra $41500 again no one knows when their number is up, the numbers I used in this are just an example and numbers I pulled out of my behind

True story back in 2019 my wife was struck by a hit and run driver while she was walking (thank god she is still with me)
the hit and run was April 1,2019 when that happened, I received a call from our best friends wife,me thinking she was calling me back since I had called them to let them know my wife was in the hospital because of the hit and run, but NO my best friends wife was calling me to inform me that my best friend had passed away on April 1,2019 my friend was in his late 60s early 70s he kept putting off drawing his SS and because of his passing and procrastinating he never collected a dime of his SS and because of his unwillingness to plan for the future it ended up being a nightmare for his wife.

that was the big factor in me deciding to not wait an extra 3 years to get a paltry dollar amount extra on my SS check and i have no regrets with my decision to not wait

Everyone views all these various factors differently & it's a personal choice based ones perspective on life. It's all good & I hope we all live long enough to get back all we paid in.

 

[bc5391]

I retired in 2016 at the age of 62, would have liked to have made it to age 66 but chronic pain took its toll.

 

[RGINN]

I think in your case oldkoot you made the right decision. (Glad the missus is still around, too.) In my case, if I went at 62, I would only be able to make I believe it was about $30,000 a year before my benefits would be cut. I wouldn't be able to get by on that due to the high cost of living here. For me, I made the right choice but it's pretty much a crap shoot. Luckily I can still work full time and get quite a bit more than the average of $1700. I think people thinking about SSI should look at our cases and see which one fits them, I guess.

 

[oldkoot]

I think in your case oldkoot you made the right decision. (Glad the missus is still around, too.) In my case, if I went at 62, I would only be able to make I believe it was about $30,000 a year before my benefits would be cut. I wouldn't be able to get by on that due to the high cost of living here. For me, I made the right choice but it's pretty much a crap shoot. Luckily I can still work full time and get quite a bit more than the average of $1700. I think people thinking about SSI should look at our cases and see which one fits them, I guess.

I am still working I am my wife's in home care giver because she has severe dementia which she had before the hit and run occurred, the hit and run literally increased her dementia 10 fold the nice thing is I can get paid for being her in home care giver and also collect my social security, luckily my wife and I planned things out before she was hit we only purchased things we absolutely needed, we banked a lot of dollars by just living modestly and only purchasing things we absolutely needed, we saved every penny we could and built up a good nest egg, and please do not take it as I am bragging because I am not, when she was hit by the hit and run driver her and I was still living the way I stated it was not until that day that my mind set changed, and I thought to my self what in the crap are we doing, in saving everything we had made, I literally broke down and re assessed everything, and decided I was going to start getting things for her and I and no you cannot take material things with you when your number is up but you can dang sure get things that makes you happy until your number is up

 

[unclemac]

this is a very good thread. All us old guys should post on it, we all need the experience of the group we trust. Me, as some of you know, am a blue dog democrat, but not some social justice warrior, (F that), just left coast born and raised, so true to my roots...I know y'all can appreciate that. Well anyway.... I haven't started collecting yet, I could but don't need it. I am still working and plan to until I can't. I figure it like this... every year I wait just goes to pay my G-dam, ever rising PROPERTY TAXES, insurance and utility bills. SS will accumulate so that when I do stop working at least I won't have to live in a cardboard box. Hell, I can eat ramen noodles to stay alive, it is not like I can eat like I used to anyway... (but like hell I am giving up whiskey!)... (I already gave up smoking 20 years ago and I miss it every day...tobacco ROCKS!!)

 

[newnan man]

What I convinced myself to do was be debt free. I don't think that is talked about enough. It is a form of freedom. If you have no debt it becomes easy to save money. If you have cash available you can grab deals when they appear. I have bought so many guns over the years from cash strapped people and turned them around at my leisure for good profits. Kept a few of the nicer ones. When you have no mortgage, car/truck/boat/ credit card payments life is easier. I have and use a credit card but pay it off in full each month. No interest charged then and it accumulates cash. I'm far from rich but own everything I have and it is peace of mind.

 

[trainer]

85% of your SS becomes taxable income. so if my wife still works I only get 15% to live on ? I think I will convince her to divorce me, is that really true... 15%

 

[McKinney_5900]

What I convinced myself to do was be debt free. I don't think that is talked about enough. It is a form of freedom. If you have no debt it becomes easy to save money. If you have cash available you can grab deals when they appear. I have bought so many guns over the years from cash strapped people and turned them around at my leisure for good profits. Kept a few of the nicer ones. When you have no mortgage, car/truck/boat/ credit card payments life is easier. I have and use a credit card but pay it off in full each month. No interest charged then and it accumulates cash. I'm far from rich but own everything I have and it is peace of mind.

Sounds a lot like me. I did not purposely pre-plan getting debt free, but by my upbringing I didn't waste money either, yet I buy "my toys" if I feel like it. My house is paid off, my car too, so SS checks are gifts to me. Actual credit cards? They serve spontaneous purposes but always get paid off asap.

My life isn't fancy but it is easy, and my car is solid, and dependable, and I can afford to fix anything if it breaks. Feels good.

I like seeing the SS checks hit my bank account every month, for 8 straight years ;-)

 

[southfork]

I retired at age 55 I'll be 77 next month I have a pension plus social security same as my wife. We live comfortably we built our home from the ground up cash as we could afford it no loans, we drove used and abused cars and trucks. We now have new vehicles well almost new my truck has 8000 miles on it paid for. My wife has a new car bought with a big down payment will be paid off in 11 months. Just the normal day to day bills and taxes endless taxes. Land paid off 30 years ago it took me 8 years to build / finish the house after work and weekends.

 

[unclemac]

Pay as you go is great advice, one other thing I learned with age was that... when you can easily afford what you want... you discover that you don't actually want stuff.

 

[newnan man]

85% of your SS becomes taxable income. so if my wife still works I only get 15% to live on ? I think I will convince her to divorce me, is that really true... 15%

85% is taxable. You pay taxes based on that so probably 1-2 thousand a year paid back. I personally think SS you be tax free but the criminals running our country think otherwise.

 

[unclemac]

....AND.... how about once you have paid in PROPERTY TAXES what you ORIGINALLY paid for your house, you are exempt from further taxation.

 

[gunsil]

That's what i keep hearing. I hate doing everything online these days because if it says won't except missing a must fill out field, I then have to look for it. Sure miss the days when a person would just say it's right there ya dummy. What makes my job so enjoyable is I am that voice that picks up the phone every time and my customers love it. Batta-Boom, Batta- Bing, all done in less than 60 seconds, Guess I'll get one of the kids to give me a hand with the slow-mo, way of doing things we do, these days.

I just went down to my local SS office, filled out the form and done. If your local SS office isn't too far it is easiest to file in person. This was pre-pandemic, I'd think they are open now.

 

[dpw21562]

2011. I earned it.