What a quid to dangle for acquittal quo.

They always raise the age for far in the future retirees so they don't lose votes.

As I might be losing my part-time job as I see her hiring more and more family.

I cry on a daily basis. I'm 61 and there's no way that I'm going to make it to full retirement age. If I have to take SS at 62, that still won't address the health care situation.

I don't know what I'm going to do and I stay afraid and fearful and can't enjoy anything.

I wish I could offer you some help. My wife passed away and I don't need everything I have.

Do you have a place where I could donate to you? Really, I have way more than I want or need.

I could use a friend right now.

but I went ahead and took my SS last year...I'm just getting by but with some health issues I don't know if I'll make it to 70 or not...that's when it has been calculated that you start losing money if you take early retirement at 62...(I read this in an article or two but don't have any links)...hang in there, these trumpers and pretty much all rethuglicans just suck (imo)...uncaring jerks...

As I can draw half of my husbands if I wait. Jesus so many of us need medicare and such now!

My counselor at SS said I should wait until 70 before taking my SS because I get part of my wife's right now and I have full medical and a military retirement.

She said waiting until 70 for my SS will almost doubled my payments. So now I wonder if she was just feeding me a line.

age 62 to 70 won't make up for the lower amount you take at age 62. It's the breakeven, for some people.

received at 62 (early retirement) compared to the full SS amount I would have received at 66 1/2 (for me). If I live until 70 or older I will start losing money because I took the lower payment from SS by retiring at 62 instead of waiting and getting the full amount of SS at 66 1/2. I'm no expert but it doesn't sound like this affects you in your situation...I took early retirement because of health and employment issues and would have been better off in the long term to wait...but I'm not sure how long my "long term" will be and needed to take what SS would provide now instead of later....I don't think your counselor was misleading you but you might check with another expert depending upon your situation...

Though I never tried to pencil it out

it's only if you live an extra long time that you are truly penalized

This would require an Act of Congress.

could work?

Or do you mean raising the minimum age to collect to 70?

And he can't do that unilaterally. Not sure if it would have to be an act of Congress, or simply something the Social Security Administration could do.

A lot of people fundamentally misunderstand how the age you are when you collect SS impacts what you collect. I doubt the minimum age to collect will ever be raised above 62. For some people that's an age that makes sense, for various reasons. For a lot of people delaying even a few years can make a huge difference in the SS check. At age 70, you max out on SS. No point in delaying beyond that birthday.

What also matters is to understand full retirement age. Which right now is 66, and will be rising to age 67 for people born between 1955 and 1960. That's the age at which your earnings will not reduce Social Security.


Because your SS amount is based on your highest 35 years of earnings, it's worthwhile to look at your SS account and see where you stand. Go to the website www.ssa.gov, sign up, and see where you stand. Sometimes not very much more work makes a huge difference. I was a stay at home Mom for 25 years, and after a divorce, was looking at a severely reduced SS amount. I'd only had 20 years in the workforce at that point. I returned to work, got in ten more years, and my own SS amount (which I delayed until age 70) became triple what it would have been at age 62.

I know this is a morbid thought, but I wonder how many people in this country pass away before they can get a few years of Social Security because they either had crappy health insurance or NO health insurance. I know myself I try to stay healthy but it seems like I get a new health issue ever year. My prescription coverage is terrible and I have significant copays for just about everything. No dental, no vision, no hearing aids ... It’s so depressing. I would like to tell the politicians that there are a LOT of us out there like this and we vote!!

before they receive benefits according to the most recent data (2015)

The data don't identify death due to lack of appropriate health care, but do identify the percentage in poverty.

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/population-profiles/never-beneficiaries.html

without adequate healthcare. I’ve been working the last 3 years just to keep my teeth.

it's also very important to understand that the money any of us pay into SS is used to fund current benefits. None of us have a fund with our name on it. What we do have is the record of what we earned and what we paid in, which is used to calculate our benefits.

And since not everyone born lives to age 65 or 70, there are always going to be those who die before they can collect.

Came to mind. She passed and would of started receiving her check just months afterward. She could of been saved.

What that means he didn't say, but I think we can safely assume it won't be good for us.

My guess is that they will do all they can to hook it into the stock market.

Trump prob thinks the Fed is HIS bank, and your money is HIS money. What's to stop him? Mitt Romney?

just a mob boss, who has deep mental issues.

Each day we got to call our Reps and Senate. They got to hear from us.

I turn 62 this May. If we had a normal President, I would consider what year I should collect.
I can’t risk it, so I’m going to start the minute it’s offered.

It’s gonna hurt his own voters, but he lives to hurt them. He disrespects all of them, but they won’t see it until it touches them. He will because he sees them as suckers and inferior.

Last edited Wed Jan 29, 2020, 09:56 PM - Edit history (1)

go for it! If someone told me I’d be working harder than I have ever worked in my entire life at almost 63 I would of never believed it much less job loss twice already!

However, if it's feasible to continue work, do be aware that if you earn above a certain amount (currently $18,240), you will lose SS benefits the next year. Until you reach your full retirement age, that is, then you can earn as much as you can with no hit on your SS.

Really do look at the numbers. They are different for all of us.

I will say this. Everyone I know who collected SS at age 62 because they thought they couldn't or shouldn't wait, was regretting that decision within five years. The lowered benefit became more and more of an issue as the years went by.

And keep in mind that you will still be several years away from Medicare.

Haven’t worked in over ten years, hubby has a state pension and social security. He was disabled, in the line of duty at age 30. He’s healthier when I’m around to pester him. Like all men. Ha.

So it’s just extra, and while I would like to wait a few years. It won’t matter finically all that much, years wise. I’m more worried about not being in the system. Especially since Trump is mentioning cutting SS and Medicare just recently. I believe he will if he can.

However, thanks for thinking of me.

People have very different circumstances, and I honestly worry that a lot of people make a poor decision to collect SS early.

And while I think it may be a bit of a battle, I don't see Trump actually cutting SS. For one thing, he can't do that unilaterally. For another, all of us seniors and many within a few years of collecting will rise up and crush him over this.

you only really cheat yourself if you take SS early, then live into your late 80,s 90's or beyond

And a lot of people misunderstand life span. They will look at what life span was at birth (for me, born in 1948, it was 73 years) and extrapolate to say that if I'm now 71, I only have on average two years left. But in reality, for a female my age, my current expected longevity is about another 15 years or so.

I am greatly bothered by the way a lot of people see age 70 as old, who start thinking of themselves as old by that age, who behave like an old person. It's one thing to have health issues or mobility limitations. I more or less understand those. But if you're reasonably healthy, just get out there and live. Do as much as you can. Don't start thinking like an old person, don't assume your life is over, don't stop participating in life just because of your birthday.

For what it's worth, when I tell people my age, I tend to get looks of complete shock. Despite the gray hair, I apparently don't act at all like a person over 70. I hope I can continue shocking people for years to come.

Anyway, back to the original point. I believe I mentioned above that the people I know who took SS at age 62 came to regret it within about 4 years, and by then it was pretty much too late to do anything about it. And honestly, the specific people I'm thinking of were having a very hard time making it. Getting a stable job was tricky. No career to speak of, just years of various different jobs. The financial need was there, and the SS income was needed and appreciated. But still, if they'd have been able to do just a few things differently they might have been much better off.

As for me, I have plans for my 97th birthday, so delaying my own SS to age 70 should well have been the best choice. And, guess what? If I die next week, I will not feel cheated (assuming I can come back here and post ) because I did just fine all along.

I can see why so many people have to take SS early......low income is better than no income. Me, I think I will stick with my full retirement age - not a lot of longevity in my family

but why is there not a lot of longevity in your family?

If it's from preventable things, like accidents or smoking, you may have longer than you expect to have. But in any case, full retirement age is an excellent compromise.

both grandmas died in their 70's, heart stuff I think; mum barely made it to 80, dad killed himself, all aunts, uncles, brother died of alcoholism

have heart stuff?

I'm sorry about your dad, but he is, essentially, an outlier. Who knows how much longer he might have lived. And the alcoholism clearly cut lives short.

So my somewhat unscientific guess is that you have a lot more longevity in you than you thought. Here's a link to the Social Security Administration life expectancy calculator. You just put in your gender and date of birth and it will tell you how much longer you're likely to live.

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/population/longevity.html

Most people, and I see this all the time here on DU, do not understand how much longer they are likely to live. Plan for the long term, everyone.

wont' cost us the general and the house.

He'd just thinks he'd be raising the age for senior discounts on the golf course.

I was resigned to this from the time I was a teen because that was just going to be how it was with the dwindling population of young people after the Baby Boomers.

That money will be stolen from us and we will have to work until the day we die.

because my wife is three years younger than me. I am pretty sure my employer will have something to say about my desire. So far they have reduced staff through velvet portion of the glove (buyouts). I suspect eventually the iron fist will come through.

Pricing unsubsidized ACA for my wife and me (assuming I am shown the door in 3 years), it will be $30K/yr to cover my wife and me (premiums and maximum of pocket).

Is currently 65 or 66 depending on year born. This is probably what they want to raise again.