Retirement Options - At qualifying age, or delay?

[Eneto-55]

I qualified for full retirement early this month (66 years, 2 months).  My wife is older than I, and already started Social Security benefits, partly because of a medical issue. (Macular Degeneration, which requires an injection in one eye every 6 weeks or so, and the medicine is extremely expensive.)  

So, how do you decide whether to take it now, or put it off until 70?

Some particulars in our case: Because we worked as missionaries until I was 51, and our work was supported financially by gifts from different congregations, friends, & family members, we didn't have a consistent income, and we also reported a lot of business expenses (for business travel away from home, etc.).  We had some years where our reported income for Social Security was very low, like often less than $10k during the 90's, so my currently calculated monthly benefits are very low.  (We filed as self-employed for SS purposes, if that is pertinent.) 

I do not have any on-going medical expenses that would be covered by Medicare, but started paying at 65, as required.  I also have no known medical issues, although my paternal grandfather died of a stroke at 68, and my Dad of Alzheimer's at 90, after some 8-10 years when he was no longer reliably competent.

 

Any advice?  Anyone know how to calculate a comparison between waiting vs taking it soon.  (Such as some sort of spreadsheet or formula that would compare my Medicare expenses over the total waiting period against what I would get if I took it soon.)  Like how can I calculate when would I "break even" if I wait until 70?

[TodFitch]

I don’t think it matters to the Social Security system, on average they pay out the same regardless of when you start collecting. That is because they are dealing with such a large number of people that the ones who die earlier than average pay for the ones who live longer than average.

 

But it matters a lot to each individual.

 

If you need the money now, your decision is made. If you can afford to wait then you have to guess how long you are likely to live compared to the average. That is an almost impossible thing to do.

 

If you have health issues that can shorten your life, it seems reasonable to claim your benefits earlier.

 

For myself, I am in good health and, if family genealogies are correct, my ancestors lived much longer lives than average. So I made the decision to start benefits on my 70th birthday.

[Ulu]

I didn’t see any guarantee that the laws wouldn’t change. People have been claiming forever that the Social Security system was going to go broke. The way our government spends money like water I am surprised that it hasn’t.

 

 I saw no guarantee that laws would continue to favor me, so I got out while the getting was good. I retired at 61. I had some health problems but they were minor.

 

I knew would have been taking a larger benefit if I had waited to retire. I also knew that inflation would always continue to eat that up. Cost-of-living adjustments would never be quite enough to make it up.

 

Anyhow you can calculate and calculate, but what you can never figure is what the government will do in the future. Don’t think about them and what they will do. Everything can change.

 

Unless the Lord is telling you there is some work you need to do now, take the money and retire. 

 

 

[Los_Control]

For social security would probably not help anything to wait.

I am on permanent social security disability. I had a really strong work history though. I worked til I was 48 years old.

My father in law was a union construction worker setting up scaffolding on commercial Buildings in Seattle. He worked a little longer then standard retirement age. Employer offered him some bonus and enticements. Now he has a couple of different retirement plans from the union and company 401k etc. Plus social security.

 

My point is social security has a max amount they will pay out every month once you pay in a pre determined amount.

My father inlaw would have naturally met that threshold, working well past 62.

I also met that threshold when became disabled at 48.

We both make exactly the same on social security. Working longer helped him with his other retirement plans ... not with social security.

 

My wife is also retired & collects social security. She worked a lot of part time store cashier work, she did not meet the income threshold.

So comparison, I receive about $1800 a month before healthcare is deducted, she is at $800 before health care deductions.

Thats not a lot to live on with today's inflation. We do pretty good though being we have no car or house payments.

 

Same time you can still work after retired on Social security. You need to report your earnings, there is a limit to how much you can make before it affects your monthly payment amount. But a good way to supplement your income.

 

The key is to find out how much you have paid into social security during your lifetime, & what the threshold to meet is.

I think you would need to talk to social security maybe start the process and you would get a case worker assigned to your case ... I think the case worker has a little leeway to fudge the numbers also. I could be wrong.

My wife case worker set her monthly payment at 1 penny below the amount of qualifying for extra benefits. If we were to divorce, she would then get extra benefits & do better then she does now.

 

My opinion you would be better off to retire now, collect your social security then find something part time you enjoy to do if you can afford to live on the income.

 

[Bryan]

I see you worked as missionaries but are you working now?  If so question is how much you enjoy working now and how much it pays vs how much you need.  Hard to say.  

[gwaggonercpa]

Benefits do increase if you wait until age 70. https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/delayret.html gives you an idea of the amount.  Essentially you are gambling on your life expectancy.  https://www.investopedia.com/retirement/when-take-social-security-complete-guide/ has some good information.

[Eneto-55]

To start with, there are a lot of explanations about how they figure the benefit.  When the auto dealership my dad had worked for for 23 years folded when he was 61, he could not find other work at a similar pay scale, and he thought that the SS rate was calculated based on the last 10 years of employment.  Others say that it is the top 10 out of the last 35.  Others say that the 35 year figure is that you have to work 35 years (and be paying in) in order to qualify. And from what I can find out, the IRS is simply not saying.

 

But they DO say that for each year you work beyond your legal retirement age they raise the payment by 8% (2/3 of 1% per month) until your 70th birthday.  So if I retire soon, they will cover my medicare payments ($445.50 per QTR), but if I wait, I will pay that fee until I retire, but then I'll be getting more per month.  (Of course, I don't know that I'll live that long, and I don't know if the government will renig on the whole deal, either.)

 

gwaggonercpa just posted while I was typing this, and he mentions some of what I've written above.

 

Yes, I am still working, and these years since then have raised my estimated benefits, because I'm making more now than I did doing mission work (and that was actually both of us working).  After we resigned from the mission agency (we moved back to the States for our children's educational needs) I first started working in a steel shop that builds replacement parts for older tractors, parts that are no longer produced by the original manufacturer.  I was working in the power coating operation, and after a couple of years the boss expanded the operation to include painting the skid-loader buckets they were building in the other part of the shop.  But we didn't have the proper equipment to handle those heavy parts (+/- 500 lbs, they said), and sometimes I had to pick up one end of one and kick a block of wood under it so that I could get the forks under it.  I weigh in at around 135, so I soon got a hernia.  Lost the job then, while out for the operation and recovery.  Then I couldn't find work elsewhere, so I studied accounting (from a college book my son had) and started with a couple of part time jobs doing bookkeeping work.  The boss at one accounting firm mentioned a need for a 'word processor' that could run QuickBooks, and having had some experience repairing my own computer in our mission work, I thought I'd try to develop something along those lines.  So that turned into a small business, where I've worked now for 14 years.  (The "business" is just me.)  But the constant changes Microsoft is introducing has made it so that it is no longer enjoyable, and sometimes I think I'm no longer up to it.  I do have some ideas of what I'd like to do if I could sell this business, like either get back into missionary work, perhaps in training new workers, or, in the old car field, maybe design and manufacture a tail-light housing for the P15 that would look as much like the stock design as possible, and still use the same lens, but stick out a bit farther to allow room for a reflector "funnel", and also incorporate a round backup lens (no larger than 3" diameter) at the bottom (and maybe a small 'window' on the outside for a turn signal to be visible from a side angle).

 

I've tried to design a formula in a spread sheet that would estimate when I would "break even", but I haven't figured it out yet.  Financial advisers (last I heard) say that a couple should have a half a million in order to retire.  So I'm not enthused about hearing more of that.  (I think those guys are used to living at the top of the life style range, and cannot imagine anyone being able or willing to live lower than that.)

[Los_Control]

Everybody's needs will be different.  First of all your missionary work sounds interesting. I think I might have liked to try some of that myself. Sure you have some interesting stories to share about it.

You were working outside of the USA, did you pay taxes and social security to the USA during this time?

Being self employed now, are you paying social security on yourself?

I know some business owners have the option to pay unemployment taxes on themselves or not ... Not sure if they can do the same with social security though.

 

Social security is a government run program, will not be transparent or efficient.  So they say you get 100% .... of what?

Just saying if you were a house wife and worked part time a few years and made a little money sometimes ... when you turn 66 you will not get the same amount as someone who worked full time & paid in for decades.

So again I ask, 100% of what? How is that determined? Just thinking it will be 100% of what you qualify for by what you paid in.

As you continue to work you can get a increase of what you will make each year ... up to 124% of what?

 

I think you may have to start the process in order to find out how it ends up. You can always continue to work if needed.

 

My case is different because I became disabled, I had to make a claim then fight it in court & 5 years later eventually I went to court and won. A long slow process.

You wont have that circus because you are legally of retirement age and automatically qualified.

While I had a free to me social security lawyer ... they may have got a cut after the case was won. I also had a social security case worker who's job was to fight my lawyer.

 

When you sign up for social security, you basically create a case, it is assigned to a person ... they walk it through the system and finalize it.

I would guess most cases are sop and the case worker does not want to create more work for themselves.

If you get called into social security office for a interview, that person has a lot to say about your final monthly income. They have ways to interact with your income.

This may help you if you were a missionary and show low income ... They may take a liking to you and boost you up.

 

My reason for claiming this is 1rst my wife social security monthly amount and how she explained it to my wife how SHE was going to set it up.

2nd reason is how my case was handled. Once I got my day in court and won. They cut a check for 5 years back pay to my bank in Albuquerque.

I then had a meeting with my caseworker ... she proceeded to explain to me how "she" was going to dole out the cash to me.

I then showed her a statement from my bank account, I already received all of it and she was irrelevant. She checked her records saw I was correct and SHE WAS PISSED!

She did say well I would not have done that! The meeting was over and never saw them again.

 

If your case gets flagged and called in for a interview, that person has a whole lot to do with your retirement. Do not sell them short.

Also why I think the rules are so vague, so they can be modified as needed.

 

[oldodge41]

I retired December 1, 2021 @ 63.5 years old. I got my first Social Security check Wednesday. I decided not to wait for full benefit age. I don't know if I will live that long, but I hope I live long enough that I can look back and say I should have waited. Probably not likely, but who knows? I don't know what is right for anyone else, but I am comfortable with my decision.

[Eneto-55]

1 hour ago, Los_Control said:

Everybody's needs will be different.  First of all your missionary work sounds interesting. I think I might have liked to try some of that myself. Sure you have some interesting stories to share about it.

You were working outside of the USA, did you pay taxes and social security to the USA during this time?

Being self employed now, are you paying social security on yourself?

I know some business owners have the option to pay unemployment taxes on themselves or not ... Not sure if they can do the same with social security though.

 

Social security is a government run program, will not be transparent or efficient.  So they say you get 100% .... of what?

Just saying if you were a house wife and worked part time a few years and made a little money sometimes ... when you turn 66 you will not get the same amount as someone who worked full time & paid in for decades.

So again I ask, 100% of what? How is that determined? Just thinking it will be 100% of what you qualify for by what you paid in.

As you continue to work you can get a increase of what you will make each year ... up to 124% of what?

 

I think you may have to start the process in order to find out how it ends up. You can always continue to work if needed.

 

My case is different because I became disabled, I had to make a claim then fight it in court & 5 years later eventually I went to court and won. A long slow process.

You wont have that circus because you are legally of retirement age and automatically qualified.

While I had a free to me social security lawyer ... they may have got a cut after the case was won. I also had a social security case worker who's job was to fight my lawyer.

 

When you sign up for social security, you basically create a case, it is assigned to a person ... they walk it through the system and finalize it.

I would guess most cases are sop and the case worker does not want to create more work for themselves.

If you get called into social security office for a interview, that person has a lot to say about your final monthly income. They have ways to interact with your income.

This may help you if you were a missionary and show low income ... They may take a liking to you and boost you up.

 

My reason for claiming this is 1rst my wife social security monthly amount and how she explained it to my wife how SHE was going to set it up.

2nd reason is how my case was handled. Once I got my day in court and won. They cut a check for 5 years back pay to my bank in Albuquerque.

I then had a meeting with my caseworker ... she proceeded to explain to me how "she" was going to dole out the cash to me.

I then showed her a statement from my bank account, I already received all of it and she was irrelevant. She checked her records saw I was correct and SHE WAS PISSED!

She did say well I would not have done that! The meeting was over and never saw them again.

 

If your case gets flagged and called in for a interview, that person has a whole lot to do with your retirement. Do not sell them short.

Also why I think the rules are so vague, so they can be modified as needed.

 

We never qualified for paying US income tax while working in Brazil, because there is a foreign earned income exemption for anyone who has legal residency in a foreign country.  So after we received our permanent visas for Brazil, and as long as we spent a certain percentage of the year out of the US, we qualified for the exclusion.  Never received anywhere near that much in a year, so didn't have to pay federal income tax.  But Social Security tax, yes we were required to pay.  And we were classified as self-employed for SS purposes, so we paid the entire amount (twice what an employed person pays).  I never incorporated my business , so it is a sole-proprietorship.  I pay income & social security tax (again, all of it, just as we did while in Brazil).  Oh, there were some years that we paid Brazilian income tax as well, but then they changed the amount you had to make in order to be required to pay, so most of the time we didn't need to.

 

Those percentages are based on what they determined your benefits to be as of the time you apply for them.  But you are right - the IRS isn't forth-coming as far as explaining how things are figured.  We always filed a joint tax report, and since both of our names & SNs were listed, we thought that my wife was supposed to qualify at a higher rate than what she gets, because she had also worked for quite a few years before we married.  But apparently it doesn't work that way.

 

The deal that really didn't seem right to me is that the Fall before we moved back up here, we purchased a house here.  I had never stepped foot in the USA that year, and definitely not Ohio, and they hit us with a monstrous Ohio state tax, because in order to pay for the house my wife sold her shares in her dad's construction company.  

 

[The work we were doing as missionaries was with an isolated tribe in the Amazon.  We learned their language (well, not all of it, how can you tell when there is nothing written down yet?), created an alphabet, and then translated portions of the Bible for them.  (We also printed some of their traditional stories for them, getting the people to do illustrations for some of those booklets.)  When people ask me about it, I always say that if I were young again, I wouldn't choose anything different as a vocation.  I consider myself to be blessed to have had the privilege of knowing those people, and of doing that work for them.  I better not say to much more here, or I will cross the line of the designated rules for the site.]

[Los_Control]

The other side of the equation .... what do you need to support yourself?

I think housing is number 1.  It has to be the most expensive monthly bill.

Most people probably have a car payment.

Then credit card bills come up next.

 

Depending where you live, housing is stupid expensive. That has to be #1 concern.

If you are lucky you have no car or credit card payments.

 

Because I was a remodel carpenter I had bought & flipped a few houses.

I lost all of that when becoming disabled and no income for a few years. Filing bankruptcy

 

Question is what housing arrangements do you have now? Your profile does not show location in USA.

I knew I would get a settlement, I had to be smart about it. Buy in a area I could afford.

I knew in Seattle or any other city along the West coast I could not pay rent each month.

Was a few options in Northern Nevada I checked out ... Wife wanted to go back to Albuquerque ... I found a nice little home in West Texas for $32.500. We offered $25k

They jumped on it and story is written in the history books.

I then invested a few thousand more and replaced the sewer lines etc... No monthly house mortgage and a yearly property tax of $410 ... technically is $1200 per year, because of disability is $400.

 

I really think taking care of housing is first on the list. Just no way I could survive comfortably with social security alone.

Still have to pay rent etc...

For shites & giggles, here I am after I trimmed my beard. It was down to my belly button while living 2 years in a travel trailer with no water.

Here is a photo of the proverbial homeless man that wakes up one day and has $60k in the bank. & cleans up while staying in a motel waiting for a House to close.

 

 

 

 

Here is a photo I never shared before ... A photo of the proverbial homeless man that wakes up one day with $60k in the bank.

 

You have X amount of resources available to you. What you do with them determines how happy you are in retirement.

 

 

 

[kencombs]

15 hours ago, Eneto-55 said:

We never qualified for paying US income tax while working in Brazil, because there is a foreign earned income exemption for anyone who has legal residency in a foreign country.  So after we received our permanent visas for Brazil, and as long as we spent a certain percentage of the year out of the US, we qualified for the exclusion.  Never received anywhere near that much in a year, so didn't have to pay federal income tax.  But Social Security tax, yes we were required to pay.  And we were classified as self-employed for SS purposes, so we paid the entire amount (twice what an employed person pays).  I never incorporated my business , so it is a sole-proprietorship.  I pay income & social security tax (again, all of it, just as we did while in Brazil).  Oh, there were some years that we paid Brazilian income tax as well, but then they changed the amount you had to make in order to be required to pay, so most of the time we didn't need to.

 

Those percentages are based on what they determined your benefits to be as of the time you apply for them.  But you are right - the IRS isn't forth-coming as far as explaining how things are figured.  We always filed a joint tax report, and since both of our names & SNs were listed, we thought that my wife was supposed to qualify at a higher rate than what she gets, because she had also worked for quite a few years before we married.  But apparently it doesn't work that way.

 

The deal that really didn't seem right to me is that the Fall before we moved back up here, we purchased a house here.  I had never stepped foot in the USA that year, and definitely not Ohio, and they hit us with a monstrous Ohio state tax, because in order to pay for the house my wife sold her shares in her dad's construction company.  

 

[The work we were doing as missionaries was with an isolated tribe in the Amazon.  We learned their language (well, not all of it, how can you tell when there is nothing written down yet?), created an alphabet, and then translated portions of the Bible for them.  (We also printed some of their traditional stories for them, getting the people to do illustrations for some of those booklets.)  When people ask me about it, I always say that if I were young again, I wouldn't choose anything different as a vocation.  I consider myself to be blessed to have had the privilege of knowing those people, and of doing that work for them.  I better not say to much more here, or I will cross the line of the designated rules for the site.]

You may have already seen this, but it is be best explanation of the calculations process I have found.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/Benefits.html

I started drawing as soon as possible, and will be 79 soon.  I wanted the income to allow me to do something I wanted instead of doing what was needed in my late 60's and 70's.  So the wife and I became antique/collectible dealers and I stopped the IT rat race.   If I live a long(er) time the smaller monthly payment will be offset by the length of the payments.  If I had dropped dead sooner, then I would have lost the bet.  

[keithb7]

Reading about retirement is very interesting to me. It’s probably my main focus at my current age. (50). I pay attention to these topics on internet forums wherever possible. Gathering intelligence. Trying to figure out how to get it right for my wife and I. Most people don’t share their financial details. I understand that. Everyone’s situation is different. Housing costs vary widely depending where you live. 
 

This year I’m watching inflation go up and up. $1,00,000 used to be a very big number. I’m not convinced it’s a big enough nest egg for retirement around here anymore. Depending what age one wants to retire of course. Groceries, insurance, utilities, gasoline, taxes and more keep rising quickly. 
 

My wife and I are very focused on saving for retirement. We have been since we first started living together 30+ years ago. Yet insecurity still comes from wondering, “will we have enough?” It would be nice to know the magic number. ? Not possible, I know. Too many variables. 
 

No mortgage. No rent. No vehicle payments. No debts. No dependents. Getting average monthly living costs down. Those seem to be the magic ingredients I suppose. 

Edited January 30, 2022 by keithb7

[Ulu]

When I wanted to retire, I wasn’t focusing on what the government was going to do for me.

 

You usually can’t trust them. They don’t have to consider your humanity. Only the money, policy and politics.

 

To them you are “another case.”

 

Focus on what God has shown you to do. There is no other path. You know that. 

[Eneto-55]

We live in Holmes County, Berlin village, in the largest Amish community in the US or in the world.  They don't generally like to move off someplace else, so that may be part of the reason land "values" are so high here.  Thankfully we own our house, because land and home prices have gone up terrifically here in the years since 2003, when we moved back to the States.  Good if you are selling, but if you want to buy in the same area again, it's probably a wash.   The problem is, even if you own it all out-right, there is the constant drain to real estate tax. (A bit over $1,000.00 per year, for a large town lot.) But we have to live with that, because we probably won't move out of the area.  (This is my wife's community, and all three of our children live here.  My own home area was northeast Oklahoma, north of Tulsa, but while my Mom lives in a retirement home in that area, none of my siblings still live there, and only one even in Oklahoma.)

Our vehicles are somewhat older, but all paid for.  (Family car, 2009 Dodge Journey, 2.4 4 lunger basic model, with around 102,000 miles.  My work car, 2010 Dodge Caravan 4.0 v6, close to 137,000 miles on the clock.)

I have never worked at any job that provided any type of retirement benefits, so the only thing we have is what we put away ourselves.  We lived very simply while in Brazil, and it's also true the utilities, for instance, were almost non-existent, because the temperature is constant enough (generally just hot...) that the houses there don't require any heat.  We didn't even have a hot water heater - just electric shower heads.  This was on the mission center, where we lived when not in the village.  Out there, after I built a shower stall in the house and we stopped bathing in the river, we heated water on a small gas stove and mixed water in a shower tank I had rigged on pulleys.  Never had running water in that house.  Later installed a toilet in the house, but just did the bucket flush deal.  

First step will be selling my business, not just a deal of giving someone a 2 week notice, have to find a buyer.  A lot of older people here spend their upper years doing "taxi work" for the Amish - you just put up a card in a store someplace with your telephone number,  and you're in business.  Some hire out to drive a family on vacation trips, gone for a week or more, out West, or where ever.  Or do early morning rounds picking up employees and taking them to their work place.  That sort of thing doesn't overly appeal to me, especially with all the hills and winter weather.

[greg g]

I retired at 57.  Took a job in a local car dealership  for 3 years while waiting for my wife to retire.  Started collecting SS at 62 as did my wife.  She waited till she had 30 years in as a teacher and was part of the state`e retirement pension setup.  Was lucky to have worked for a company that had TIAA CREF as a retirement plan into which my employer put 12% of my annual salary.  I added 7 percent, and when merit increases, cost of living increases and annual raises came along I put half of those, which my employer matched into a supplemental account within the plan.  With proceeds from my wife's  parents and my father's estate we were able to pay off our mortgage 10 years early.  Also have a no cost Medicare supplemental add on through my wife's employer.  

 

Both of us started working at 15, so our SS benefits are pretty good.   We have been very fortunate to have had a good financial advisor good, retirement and pension plans.

We considered our situation and were advised to begin drawing SS at 62. 

 

We consider  ourselves to be very fortunate with our situation.   Our daughter 8s the sole heir and based on our last 1uarterly reports, she will be very well placed.

[Los_Control]

One more thing I believe, I can be wrong others also believe it sooo?

Work causes stress. 

Stress causes health issues.

Health issues cause debt, more stress, early death.

 

If that is true, the earlier you retire is possible the longer you live. The more healthier, enjoyable your later years will be.

 

Do not get me wrong, I loved working. A person needs to stay busy and keep their mind occupied.

A personal goal of mine. Being a carpenter. I enjoy that work. Getting my pilothouse road ready to haul my tools around. Possibly work with the local churches and volunteer my services to those who need it in my community.

 

I just feel it is important to stay busy anyway you can. At all cost you need to stay physically active along with mentally.

 

 

[Dan Hiebert]

Simple explanation.  You earn points towards Social Security benefits based on what you put into the system, regardless of who you worked for.  Your SS income is based on however many points you earned, which is also affected by whether you have an alternate retirement.  There is a minimum and maximum earning age based on when you were born (your age) - you can't start withdrawing SS until you reach a certain age, and you won't earn any more after you reach a maximum age.  There are nuances to that, but that's basically it.   

 

I.e., I'm a "FROG" - Federal Retired Old Guy - so I have an annuity from Uncle Sam that affects my SS earnings.  I had mandatory retirement at 57 (early because Federal law enforcement officers are all mandatory at 57), which was too early to withdraw SS, I have to wait until I'm 62.  To get max SS benefits, I have to wait until I'm 67 to start.  Because I was mandatory, I get a stipend (funded by paying extra SS tax during my career, which also ensured I would have the points necessary to earn SS) to make up for not being able to withdraw from SS when I hit mandatory retirement age.  That stipend is based on my calculated max earnings - at 67, so I already know how much I'll earn from SS once I reach that age.  If I start at 62, I'll get less, and I'm stuck with that amount the rest of my life.  If I wait until I'm older than 67 it goes up, but not enough to worry about in my case.    

 

The main moral to this story is that Social Security can be complicated.  We have our experiences to regale you with, but the best thing to do is contact your local Social Security office.  They will work with you on those calculations you seek, for free.  There's no reason to try to do it on your own.  The Social Security Administration gets a bad rap, our local office is awesome, but you do need a good dose of patience, kinda like a lot of DMVs.  Call them, tell them what you seek, they will give you an appointment and tell you what information to bring with you.  If you are concerned with it, it is ultimately worth the effort.

Edited February 1, 2022 by Dan Hiebert
typo

[kencombs]

On 1/31/2022 at 1:10 PM, Los_Control said:

One more thing I believe, I can be wrong others also believe it sooo?

Work causes stress. 

Stress causes health issues.

Health issues cause debt, more stress, early death.

 

If that is true, the earlier you retire is possible the longer you live. The more healthier, enjoyable your later years will be.

 

Do not get me wrong, I loved working. A person needs to stay busy and keep their mind occupied.

A personal goal of mine. Being a carpenter. I enjoy that work. Getting my pilothouse road ready to haul my tools around. Possibly work with the local churches and volunteer my services to those who need it in my community.

 

I just feel it is important to stay busy anyway you can. At all cost you need to stay physically active along with mentally.

 

 

agree with one little stipulation:   Work doesn't cause stress.  Bosses do.  And from 1999 until 2012 I worked for a real jerk. 

 

 

 

Self employed.

 

Seriously, job stress can be real.  Or not a problem.  It all depends on working conditions, co-workers, and the right or wrong job.  For many years I was happy working 50+ hours every week in a high pressure job, but one that I loved.  Then upper management changed and the same job was just awful.   Moved to another company for a couple of years and then took early retirement.  That's when I went to work for the jerk.

 

But I really wish I'd went into business for myself years earlier.

 

 

 

 

[oldodge41]

Our local SS office is very good. Takes a bit to get thru on the phone sometimes though. I have spoken to 3 different ladies. One answers phones and passes info to the other two. Very pleasant. The second always treats me like a valued customer, explains things as much as needed for me to understand and seems to be very knowledgeable. The third is less cordial, all business and wants to rush through the call, but knowledgeable as well. Just a personality trait I think. After a bunch of calls to question things on my online SS account I have deduced that I should have initiated the process thru the local office instead of online. The local office even sort of said that without really saying it. I got my first payment on the date, in the amount, the local office said I would. My online info still doesn't match. Different dates, lesser amount and it doesn't seem to update. The local office says ignore it. I am trying to, but I keep checking it. If the info is there it should be correct. My wife's online account, on the other hand, is spot on and has updated quickly at each step. Bottom line, I agree, call the "local" SS office. Not the online, "create an account" system or the national ( sit on hold for hours ) number. The locals here beat that hands down.

[Eneto-55]

3 hours ago, oldodge41 said:

Our local SS office is very good. Takes a bit to get thru on the phone sometimes though. I have spoken to 3 different ladies. One answers phones and passes info to the other two. Very pleasant. The second always treats me like a valued customer, explains things as much as needed for me to understand and seems to be very knowledgeable. The third is less cordial, all business and wants to rush through the call, but knowledgeable as well. Just a personality trait I think. After a bunch of calls to question things on my online SS account I have deduced that I should have initiated the process thru the local office instead of online. The local office even sort of said that without really saying it. I got my first payment on the date, in the amount, the local office said I would. My online info still doesn't match. Different dates, lesser amount and it doesn't seem to update. The local office says ignore it. I am trying to, but I keep checking it. If the info is there it should be correct. My wife's online account, on the other hand, is spot on and has updated quickly at each step. Bottom line, I agree, call the "local" SS office. Not the online, "create an account" system or the national ( sit on hold for hours ) number. The locals here beat that hands down.

When my wife applied, that was well before the pandemic, so we went into the office in our area and got it all done easily.  But when I did the Medicare deal, it was during the first lock-down, and the local office was closed to in-person consultations.  I'm not a "remote access" sort of person, and I found it very difficult to get through the process successfully.  Actually, I started it right away, and I thought everything was taken care of.  Then I got a call from a person who had either dogs or children noises in the background.  Working from home, I guess, but how could I know that it was safe to give her my SS #?  I refused, she acted like she understood, and was nice about it.  They cancelled my application, which I didn't know until some months later.  So I did it all over again, and that time I gave them the info. 

So I don't know if the local office is ever going to go back to in-person visits.  But that is what I would prefer.