Poll: Poll Thread: Did You Or Are You Going To Start Collecting Social Security Retirement Income At 62, Full Retirement Age or 70.

[Hemlock]

Retired at 60. Eleven years ago. Started Social Security at 67.
Get a good investment person.

 

[The Heretic]

I took an early medical retirement at age 59. In about 2.5 years I took SS at age 62. It was a nice $2500 a month raise. And I took Medicare as soon as I qualified. My insurance rate dropped from $900 a month to under $30 a month. [ another nice raise].
I added it all up, and taking the lessor early amount at 62, I will be 82 before the lower amount for more years brakes even if I had taken the higher amount for less years. With the health problems I have the likelihood of me living past 82 is really long odds. So, I'm getting mine now!
I have heard all my life SS would not be there when I got there. this is another reason why taking it early was a good choice for us. DR

yup - I did a comparison and I doubt that I would ever reach a break even point. Nobody in my immediate family ever made it out of their 80s, some (my father and my aunt) did not make it to their 80s.

My generation (my brother's and I) are maybe going to be okay in our 80s, but I doubt we will make it much past 85, if that. We each have heart problems - I go in tomorrow to get a heart monitor for a week.

I did not need SS while still employed and I wanted to max out my 401K/IRAs as much as possible, and that was a good thing. I am hoping my IRAs will keep growing for the next ten years, which by then I may need some of that cash to pay for home care (maybe buy a robot if they are capable).

By the time my daughter reaches retirement (in about 15 years), quite possibly before due to health, she will probably need some of that retirement $ too - which she has not been able to save for. If I keel over tomorrow she could sell my real estate and then take RMDs from my IRA - if she is careful with the money, she should be okay.

 

[joken]

When I was 62 my wife told me that if I worked a couple more years I could buy a new pickup and camper. I worked until I was 66 and didn't get either for another couple of years. My wife can squeeze a nickel until it screams, but without her, I probably wouldn't have a nickel.

 

[Nosrac]

Retired at 60. Eleven years ago. Started Social Security at 67.
Get a good investment person.

Yes, a good CPA and investment advisor. We've been converting our 401k's to Roth IRAs. We hope to have it all rolled within 3 years as you have to pay current income tax on it now to roll it so we do a bit every year. We all know due to the national debt tax rates have to go up. I'd rather pay 20% tax now rather than the 40% + that's coming in a few years.

 

[MikeInOr]

Retired at 60. Eleven years ago. Started Social Security at 67.
Get a good investment person.

There is no such thing as a "Good investment person"!

Every investment advisor I have ever talked to has been a complete CROOK! They have always tried to steer me into high load mutual funds that they always get some type of back door kickback for selling. Their main concern is making money for themselves... not you! If they tell you they work for you that is your first red flag that they are lying to you! Ask them how they make THEIR MONEY? If the answer is anything other than "by screwing you over" they are lying to your face!

It is your money, educate yourself! ONLY YOU ARE GOING TO LOOK OUT FOR YOUR BEST INTEREST!

If you are 10 or more years away from retirement it is pretty safe to put your money into the Vanguard 500 mutual fund which is a very low load S&P 500 index fund... then leave it there! The S&P 500 will be significantly higher when you retire than it is right now... and it is pretty bloated right now! The S&P 500 WILL GO DOWN! Then it will go back up! If you take your money out of it when it goes down you will miss the gains when it does go back up! (been there, done that!)

I use Schwab and have COMPLETE control of my IRA and ROTH IRA money with miniscule trading fees and NO ADMINISTRATION FEES! It took me a half hour to setup IRA's for my sister and brother in law with Schwab about 9 months ago. Moving your 401K money to the IRA (only if you don't work there any more) is a bigger headache because the 401K providers make big money off of your 401K money so they deliberately put up road blocks to keep you from moving it out of their firm! But they have to cut a check to you upon your request. The check will be made out to (Schwab). When you receive the check you send the check to Schwab and they cash it and put it in your IRA account. If you put it into a ROTH IRA account you will have to pay taxes on it! If you put it in a conventional IRA you don't pay taxes on it until you retire. Once the money is in your IRA account you select how it is invested (like buying Vanguard 500 mutual fund). The SWPPX2 - SCHWAB S&P 500 INDEX is Schwab's version of the Vanguard 500 fund with even lower overhead and you won't pay buying fees if you buy this fund... only if your IRA account is with Schwab!

IRA - funded by your PRE-tax money, like a 401K. You pay taxes on it WHEN YOU TAKE IT OUT AFTER YOU RETIRE.
ROTH IRA - Funded by your money AFTER IT HAS BEEN TAXED. When you take it out you don't have to pay taxes on it.
401K - funded by your PRE-tax money. You pay taxes on the money when you take it out after retiring.

How many wealthy entertainers have you heard about being swindled by their "Good investment person"? For every one that you hear about there are 10,000 more that will never come forwards and admit they have been swindled!

Yes!.. unsolicited advice from some gun nut on the internet is actually better advice than you will ever receive from an investment advisor! I am not going to make a penny off of you if you open your own IRA. Any investment advisor that says they are not going to make money off of you IS LYING!

Substitute any other reputable online trading firm for "Schwab"! I don't care! I don't work for Schwab it makes absolutely NO DIFFERENCE to me which firm you use. Do a half hour of online research for a reputable low trading fee, NO ADMINISTRATION FEES (For IRA's) online trading firm. DO IT! Take control of YOUR money and YOUR future! Stop giving your money away to CROOKS!

Damn! my soap box fell over... I better go now...

 

[P7M13]

I on a trajectory to be completely debt free by the time I reach full retirement age. Beyond that, I love my job and will likely work until I'm 70, and at other things even after that.
Men in my family live into their late 90's, though that's never a guarantee.
Having maxed my SS tax level for the past 15 years, who knows if I'll ever get out what I put in. I don't really care whether I do.

 

[357 MAX]

I retired 9 years ago at 65. i regret retiring so soon. i didn't think i would live this long. i could have retired at 70 and still kept working with no loss of SS benefits

 

[MikeInOr]

I retired 9 years ago at 65. i regret retiring so soon. i didn't think i would live this long. i could have retired at 70 and still kept working with no loss of SS benefits

May I ask why you regret retiring so soon? For financial reasons?

 

[Nosrac]

There is no such thing as a "Good investment person"!

I disagree. My degree is in financial portfolio management and for 30 years I handled our investments. There came a point where I got too busy doing too many other projects and didn't want to keep up with it anymore. As it turns out the investment adviser I have now found me as he was referred to me by several people he knew in the industry. He called me because he had clients to send to me. After 2 years of building a really good relationship I told him I wanted him to handle my portfolio. I got to see first hand his financial style and how he placed his clients portfolios. I've been extremely happy with the results over the last 4 years and my wife who is a CPA for high end clients refers to him for the same reason. Yes, there are fees involved but if he's getting 22+% return on my portfolio in both down and up years I don't mind paying the small 1<% fee as my return is still net 21+%.

 

[P7M13]

Speak of the devil, I found my SS benefit flyer.
67 is my age of full retirement. According to the chart, I'll draw $3409 then. If I wait until I'm 79, it bumps up to $4390.

 

[MikeInOr]

I disagree. My degree is in financial portfolio management and for 30 years I handled our investments. There came a point where I got too busy doing too many other projects and didn't want to keep up with it anymore. As it turns out the investment adviser I have now found me as he was referred to me by several people he knew in the industry. He called me because he had clients to send to me. After 2 years of building a really good relationship I told him I wanted him to handle my portfolio. I got to see first hand his financial style and how he placed his clients portfolios. I've been extremely happy with the results over the last 4 years and my wife who is a CPA for high end clients refers to him for the same reason. Yes, there are fees involved but if he's getting 22+% return on my portfolio in both down and up years I don't mind paying the small 1<% fee as my return is still net 21+%.

I have never heard of a degree in "Financial Portfolio Management". It must be an industry insider thing.

A professional portfolio manager that doesn't manage his own portfolio.... confirms everything I have ever heard about the investment world!

"My industry insider hooked me up with the REAL industry insider who gets yearly average returns of 22+% and he has a proven track record with me" is the opening line of EVERY Ponzi scheme I have ever heard of!

Does the ~1% fee mean ~1% of the money they make for you? Or does it mean ~1% of your entire portfolio every year whether they make money for you or loose your money for you? I bubblegummed my pants when the company that bought out my previous employer used a 401K firm that was taking <.5% of my total portfolio value every year! The new companies benefit manager must have been getting one hell of a good kickback to agree to a deal like that!

 

[Alexx1401]

Speak of the devil, I found my SS benefit flyer.
67 is my age of full retirement. According to the chart, I'll draw $3409 then. If I wait until I'm 79, it bumps up to $4390.

They have some simple charts that show how this works. When Wife was reaching her full age SS of course was holding out that carrot of wait and make more. So she looked up one of the charts showing examples of what happens if you wait by the month, and then how long you would have to live to actually make up the money you were not collecting. It was enough to make her just pull the trigger at the full age. Since she is still working and has no plan to stop it made sense to her. Its of course all a gamble. I too will just pull mine at full. Already set up the online account with SS so it can do it all online. You can start the paperwork up to 4 months early. Wife did not know that and waited till the full. It took them a few months to process it all. No shock there dealing with gov bureaucracy. The first payment she got they did of course back pay her to the day she filed.

 

[Old Dog]

I disagree. My degree is in financial portfolio management and for 30 years I handled our investments. There came a point where I got too busy doing too many other projects and didn't want to keep up with it anymore. As it turns out the investment adviser I have now found me as he was referred to me by several people he knew in the industry. He called me because he had clients to send to me. After 2 years of building a really good relationship I told him I wanted him to handle my portfolio. I got to see first hand his financial style and how he placed his clients portfolios. I've been extremely happy with the results over the last 4 years and my wife who is a CPA for high end clients refers to him for the same reason. Yes, there are fees involved but if he's getting 22+% return on my portfolio in both down and up years I don't mind paying the small 1<% fee as my return is still net 21+%.

I'm gonna agree with you on all points. We have an exceptional financial advisor, who's built up my wife's (well over) million-dollar portfolio in a few short years, as well as a great CPA who we trust implicitly. There are good people in this business, looking out for their clients' best interest. I don't think we're the exception, but you just have to acknowledge that there is risk involved.

I have never heard of a degree in "Financial Portfolio Management". It must be an industry insider thing.

Actually, a number of business colleges have these programs, also called "Asset and Portfolio Management" or "Investment and Portfolio Management." I only know this because one of my siblings is a graduate of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and has worked in finance and the markets for years.

There are a lot of shady people in the business as "financial advisors" and "investment counselors," whatever. We've worked with Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity, Edward Jones over the past 40 years. And there's a lot of earnest, good people in the business as well. I think a lot of it has to do with developing relationships, and it may take a while before you find someone you can trust.

 

[2ndtimer]

I retired at 62, and my wife continued teaching for two years after that, so I didn't claim SSA until I turned 65 when I also signed up for medicare. She retired with a pension, and SSA, and between our SSA and her pension, we are comfortable. Paid off our house 17 years ago (thanks to a small inheritance) and have been debt free since then. Only withdrawals from our traditional IRA's have been to convert to our Roth IRA's.
In 3 years when I have to start making required mandatory minimum distributions, I hope to split those between our 3 boys Roth IRA's, so the IRS will only get to tax it once. And to help get them get jump started on their own retirement.

 

[gmerkt]

I took mine at 62. Main reason, my dad died at age 64.

Also because I have another pension and I retired at 57. Also because my dad died at age 64.

In this life, you don't know how long you have. I've had 17 pretty good years since I retired. But that was unknowable beforehand.

 

[gmerkt]

I have to start making required mandatory minimum distributions

I had to start doing that a couple of years ago. I didn't touch it for 15 years. I use part of the distributions to prepay Federal income tax. Which I find kind of ironic. Now I wish I'd prepaid taxes on it and it wasn't subject to "rules."

 

[orygun]

Haven't read the thread, haven't voted.

@arakboss , the questions you ask certainly run the gamut, but this one is one that I can't yet answer.

Point 1; Who wouldn't like to retire? Dang, there's a lot that doesn't get done around here because of work, commitments and left over energy that I would love to work on if I was retired.

Point 2; Without digging out paperwork and checking, it seems like I'll "draw" about 3/4 of what I'll get at 72 compared to what I'd get 62. Is that a fair trade? Money for time?

Point 3; I will be 62 this fall and I could retire then, but I just started a new business less than 1.5 years ago and it seems to be going very well. Wouldn't I be stupid to give up the income, especially because I like what I do?

It's one of the biggest decisions I have to make.

 

[gmerkt]

especially because I like what I do?

If you like what you do, that may be the single most important factor in the decision. Unfortunately, a good many people work most of their lives just to get money and have no particular enjoyment of the labor. After I retired from real work, I had a small business that I actually liked doing. I did it for several years, then stopped because I wanted to do other things. But I never really enjoyed working for The Man, as it were. I didn't often hate it, but it wasn't done out of love but necessity.

 

[arakboss]

Haven't read the thread, haven't voted.

@arakboss , the questions you ask certainly run the gamut, but this one is one that I can't yet answer.

Point 1; Who wouldn't like to retire? Dang, there's a lot that doesn't get done around here because of work, commitments and left over energy that I would love to work on if I was retired.

Point 2; Without digging out paperwork and checking, it seems like I'll "draw" about 3/4 of what I'll get at 72 compared to what I'd get 62. Is that a fair trade? Money for time?

Point 3; I will be 62 this fall and I could retire then, but I just started a new business less than 1.5 years ago and it seems to be going very well. Wouldn't I be stupid to give up the income, especially because I like what I do?

It's one of the biggest decisions I have to make.

My future retirement date has already been determined. When my body hits the furnace, I will be officially retired. Between now and then I will always be working at some level. I have no pension, basically no retirement funds worth counting. I'm living in the now and not unhappy about it.

I am one of those hyperinflation nuts and believe it's going to happen before I reach SS retirement age. It's difficult to plan for a time, when you don't know how many wheelbarrows full of dollars you're going to need to buy a loaf of bread.

 

[The Heretic]

If you like what you do, that may be the single most important factor in the decision. Unfortunately, a good many people work most of their lives just to get money and have no particular enjoyment of the labor. After I retired from real work, I had a small business that I actually liked doing. I did it for several years, then stopped because I wanted to do other things. But I never really enjoyed working for The Man, as it were. I didn't often hate it, but it wasn't done out of love but necessity.

I kind of liked what I did - there was a factor, mostly the creativity and puzzle/problem solving of writing software. But the last couple of years I was starting to get burned out. Except for one short temp gig about a year after being laid off, I have not written any code, or thought seriously about writing.

That temp gig reminded me how much work it was and I have just almost totally lost interest in it - not even to keep up on the latest tech or anything like that.

I used to think I might want to do some part time coding for pay - but that temp gig convinced me that I didn't. I also thought I might want to just do some unpaid OSS work - again, lost all ambition with that temp gig.

My older brother owns a company and my sister-in-law mentioned that once a week he does a little bit of work - a meeting/etc. - just to stay in touch? He is almost 4 years older than I am and moderately wealthy - so he doesn't need to work at all. But for some reason (maybe taxes or whatever - not sure), he still does. He used to be a workaholic.