One more year and I'll be a Free Man!

[Gizmo2]

When I started this thread I really hadn't decided about when I would start collecting SS. Your responses have made me stop and think seriously about this decision. I will probably start collecting at 62-1/2. Although I am in fairly decent health now, most of the men in my family have died before 70. I feel like I have slowed down alot more in the past couple years then the previous 10 years. I feel lucky because I have a few options. Besides my farm I might even work a part time job in the winter months. (as long as it is low stress) Plus, I have put together a decent nest egg.
Again, I want to thank everyone for your sincere support. I really didn't expect this much response. You TBN'ers are a special bunch. Yep, 62-1/2 sounds good to me!
cj

Right back at ya!
Thanks for the thanks.

 

[Pilot]

A couple more comments about SS.

In my earlier post I said if you can afford it, it's better to wait to draw SS. Note, I didn't say not to retire ASAP, just hold off on drawing SS until you have to in order to maximize your payment. Of course if many people in your family die young, take the money and run. But if you expect to live to a ripe old age, wait as long as you can to start drawing SS, which for some may be 62 and others may be 70.

The "full retirement" phrase is a scam. SS retirement used to be 65, then in 1961 they gave the option of early retirement at 62 at a reduced amount (25% reduction), calling 65 full retirement. "Full retirement" doesn't mean a thing except for calculating your penalty for retiring at a younger age, and that's based on when you were born. For a given birth year, for each month you delay, your payment increases by the same percentage regardless of whether you retire at 65 1/2 or 64 or 68 years and 7 months.

Earlier I said that for each year you delay, your benefit increases by 8%. That's an approximate figure and goes down slightly the younger you are, based on the age at which you can draw "full retirement".

 

[Gizmo2]

When SS started I think the average life spam was a touch over 65 years.
Anyone know for sure?

 

[JDgreen227]

When I started this thread I really hadn't decided about when I would start collecting SS. Your responses have made me stop and think seriously about this decision. I will probably start collecting at 62-1/2. Although I am in fairly decent health now, most of the men in my family have died before 70. I feel like I have slowed down alot more in the past couple years then the previous 10 years. I feel lucky because I have a few options. Besides my farm I might even work a part time job in the winter months. (as long as it is low stress) Plus, I have put together a decent nest egg.
Again, I want to thank everyone for your sincere support. I really didn't expect this much response. You TBN'ers are a special bunch. Yep, 62-1/2 sounds good to me!
cj

Glad we could be supportive, that is what TBN members are like. Just FYI, when the state of Michigan offered an early retirement deal (50 years old, at least 30 years of service) back in 2002, my wife and I both jumped off the treadmill. I was 51, she was 50. Glad we took the deal because my father died at 69, my grandfather at 64, men in my family don't seem to live long, my dad worked till 64 and was gone five years later. The important thing about retiring is you HAVE to stay active. Good luck. BTW I am 60 now, cannot wait to be on easy street when I began drawing SS.

 

[ronjhall]

Biggest jolt I got by retiring at 62 was medical cost. For wife and I it was over $500 a month. When I retired it was company offered insurance plan. Now that we are both on Medicare our cost is zero. Check this out before you retire.

 

[MotorSeven]

Biggest jolt I got by retiring at 62 was medical cost. For wife and I it was over $500 a month. When I retired it was company offered insurance plan. Now that we are both on Medicare our cost is zero. Check this out before you retire.

Ditto, but there is a way around that. just get insurance for "The Big One". We have a $5K deductible and pay for just about everything until that is reached per year. My wife and and I pay $330 a month & it includes a drug plan/dental plan and several preventive procedures.

I think insurance got out of hand, should never have been for "routine illnesses". It's funny when we do go in for that odd thing here or there. When it's time to pay they say, "We will file this with your insurance and then bill you the balance." I say, no, we have a $5K deductible, so I will pay the full amount now".....usually all I get is a blank look...they just don't know how to handle it:laughing:

 

[brin]

Geeeez, Some of you guys seem to be anticipating your demise way too soon....It reminds me of when my Father in Law and I were standing by his workshop and he pointed around at his house , shop and pasture and said...Here I have everything I wanted and now I am 72 and no time left to enjoy it....I told him he was mistaken and had many years left...He smiled....He passed away when he was 86 yrs. old...Now let that be a lesson to all of you thinking you are going to take an early exit.

In this day and age family history is only a small part of how long you will live...with the medications we have now and the preventative treatments...folks are living much longer...So go forward, enjoy and prosper.

 

[300UGUY]

Ditto, but there is a way around that. just get insurance for "The Big One". We have a $5K deductible and pay for just about everything until that is reached per year. My wife and and I pay $330 a month & it includes a drug plan/dental plan and several preventive procedures.

I think insurance got out of hand, should never have been for "routine illnesses". It's funny when we do go in for that odd thing here or there. When it's time to pay they say, "We will file this with your insurance and then bill you the balance." I say, no, we have a $5K deductible, so I will pay the full amount now".....usually all I get is a blank look...they just don't know how to handle it:laughing:

Technology has pushed the price up, while improving outcomes. And more stuff is done on a outpatient basis. And of course the for profit hospitals, insurance companies, pharma, and medical device companies aren't doing it for charity.

 

[two_bit_score]

Technology has pushed the price up, while improving outcomes. And more stuff is done on a outpatient basis. And of course the for profit hospitals, insurance companies, pharma, and medical device companies aren't doing it for charity.

Sounds like you would rather just not have it if anyone was going to make a profit providing it.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Biggest jolt I got by retiring at 62 was medical cost. For wife and I it was over $500 a month. When I retired it was company offered insurance plan. Now that we are both on Medicare our cost is zero. Check this out before you retire.

Glad that the medical insurance issue came up as I was going to ask what you folks retiring at 62 are doing?

I turned 61 on this past Friday and if I stay with my current job, I am thinking of retiring at 62. The workplace(s) these days seem to be just plain dog eat dog.

Having gone through a divorce, seen my 401 vaporize and a downsizing, financially, I could probably go until I drop. My wife being four years older than me just went on Medicare so she is squared away with medical. I guess if I have to, I will pick up a job driving school bus. Where I live, the bus company pays full medical even though it is part time work.

I am also looking at maybe going out to North Dakota to work in the oil fields until I turn 65.