Social Security information which may help you or your parents in the near future should your parents not have a financial person

step.eng69 said:

Social Security It is not GOING BANKRUPT…….

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JakkL said:

It's already bankrupt. There is nothing in the trust fund but IOU's from Congress.

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step.eng69 said:

If the SS fund is bankrupt, according to Jak, no money to 'take' NewEra.

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NewEra 2026 said:

Take the money the govt stole from you as soon as you can get it.

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TheBigUglies said:

On a serious note, now that I am getting closer to retirement I am starting to have discussions with current retirees vs financial planners. The financial planner is saying wait until 70 to collect SSN but current retirees say start collecting as soon as you can(62), sure it will be less but at least you will get it. Waiting until 70 is a gamble because who knows for sure that one will make it to 70 and if you don't then its too late. Also hear stories of those that started collecting at 65 but then dead by 66,67. Financial planner algorithms base scenarios of you living into your 90s when avg age males live to is 78. Sure there are those that live longer and based on current health you need to make these decisions. However, my current challenge is trying to figure out when to retire, do I have enough money at 62 or wait until 65 because that is what planner advises based on their algo that says we live well into our 90s. I know everyone's situation is different but just looking for other opinions.

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step.eng69 said:

I thought I'd post some podcasts with Ed Weir covering SSA changes, especially on the advent this spring of 'AI' replacing in-person help with issues concerning SSA. Ed takes on-air text questions/issues concerning SS.
You can use Social Security's benefit calculators to:

• Estimate your retirement benefits based on when you would begin receiving them (from age 62 to 70)
• Calculate what payments you would receive based on your earning history
• Find out your full retirement age
• Learn about earning limits if you plan to work while receiving Social Security benefit
• Hopefully the younger people on the board will help their retired parents overcome any incidental issues that arise.

Occasionally I review anything related to the SSA or IRS due to the everchanging rules of the programs.
Sometime in the near future I'll have to rely on Medicare A, B, and of course a supplemental plan. Currently at age 77, I'm working part time and will
exceed the minimum threshold and cost me about a $1,944 more a year in Part B coverage. Using the SSA-44 form should
bring me in line w/ the standard monthly payment of $203/month for me and $203/month for my wife totaling $4,800+ per year. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries will be $283 in 2026, an increase of $26 from the annual deductible of $257 in 2025. With the added $283 from each of us the total annual payment to Part B will be $5,366.
in 7-years, Part B will probably double to $10,000+ while our SS benefits will be reduced by 20-25%. The 20-25% reduction will be applied to everyone, new registrations to SS and those recipients currently on SS.



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TheBigUglies said:

On a serious note, now that I am getting closer to retirement I am starting to have discussions with current retirees vs financial planners. The financial planner is saying wait until 70 to collect SSN but current retirees say start collecting as soon as you can(62), sure it will be less but at least you will get it. Waiting until 70 is a gamble because who knows for sure that one will make it to 70 and if you don't then its too late. Also hear stories of those that started collecting at 65 but then dead by 66,67. Financial planner algorithms base scenarios of you living into your 90s when avg age males live to is 78. Sure there are those that live longer and based on current health you need to make these decisions. However, my current challenge is trying to figure out when to retire, do I have enough money at 62 or wait until 65 because that is what planner advises based on their algo that says we live well into our 90s. I know everyone's situation is different but just looking for other opinions.

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TheBigUglies said:

On a serious note, now that I am getting closer to retirement I am starting to have discussions with current retirees vs financial planners. The financial planner is saying wait until 70 to collect SSN but current retirees say start collecting as soon as you can(62), sure it will be less but at least you will get it. Waiting until 70 is a gamble because who knows for sure that one will make it to 70 and if you don't then its too late. Also hear stories of those that started collecting at 65 but then dead by 66,67. Financial planner algorithms base scenarios of you living into your 90s when avg age males live to is 78. Sure there are those that live longer and based on current health you need to make these decisions. However, my current challenge is trying to figure out when to retire, do I have enough money at 62 or wait until 65 because that is what planner advises based on their algo that says we live well into our 90s. I know everyone's situation is different but just looking for other opinions.

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scocha409 said:

I will be 62 in April and retiring in June from full-time work. Plan is to seek some part-time(max 15 hrs/wk) consulting, hoping to at least pay for med. Current plan is to wait till 67 at min for ss, unless health would decline, then would start it up immediately. Starting early is pretty big haircut each year. So, health willing as 67 approaches, will again work with advisors/modeling and re-evaluate if going to wait to max/70. I work with two advisors and they both support that is the best approach, based on our situation.
Hard part for me, as a life-time saver, will be to mentally wrap my head around watching nest egg go down v up, but I feel up to the challenge ....129 days to go!!

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baltimorened said:

big thing between retiring at 62 and 65 is eligibility for Medicare...if you retire at 62 you need to consider how you're going to get your medical coverage

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Tom McAndrew said:

There really isn't a one-size-fits-all answer, or even a perfect answer for you, as to when to start taking SS. I went to a bunch of seminars about it, and met with several financial planners. The seminars were more general, and gave a variety of scenarios. The planners had the same exact info about me, and each had different advice/approaches.

You have to factor in what your pension is (if you have one), what your 401k/IRA/Roth IRA total value is, what your other investments are, and what your mandatory expenses are. And if you're married, you should also factor in most of the same data for your spouse, as they are also very dependent upon what you decide. If you don't need SS to get by, there are financial advantages to delaying receiving it until 70.

On the flip side, you can factor in your expected life expectancy, factoring in your health and how long your parents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, etc. lived. But that only tells what happened to them, or how healthy you currently are. While you can extrapolate some trends, you really can't plan on living as long as the trends indicate, or not living significantly longer than the trends indicate. And how long you will actually live is the unanswerable question, though the answer to that question would make the decision of when to take SS pretty easy to resolve.

In the end, I think you take in all the info you can get from various sources, and make the decision that you're most comfortable with, while knowing that there isn't a perfect decision -- just a number of different ones that you can make work.

Good luck, and congratulations on getting to the point where you need to make this decision.

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GSPVik said:

I did a calculation of how much I would receive at age 62 and at full retirement age of about 66. I totaled both those payments until the breakpoint where I would receive more in total payments. That breakpoint was age 77. Based on family history my odds of living to that age were low. I took the payment at age 62 and I am still ahead of the game. Wife waited until full retirement age, as she worked until then. Hope this makes sense.

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step.eng69 said:

As the Indian mentioned, Plan 'B' has to be considered into the planning.
@Indian rocks rich

I currently pay $11,600+ in taxes (75% of SS income) to SS
Kar & I pay a total annual payment to Part B of $5,366.
If you don't have company health insurance, you'll need supplemental insurance.
.........Also make damn sure the plan covers foreign/state to state travel emergency (up to plan limits)
I'm figuring on Plan G as a supplemental insurance when I retire (currently 77 yrs old).
Plan G may cost anywhere from $6,000 - $8,000 per couple per year.

If I retired next yr, I'd be coughing up around $24,000 for SS and Medicare

I'm not on Medicare, although I'm enrolled, working 24 hrs/wk I'm covered by company health insurance.
Keep in mind, in 7-yrs SS checks-benefits are proposed to be cut by 23%,

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NedFromYork said:

Plan to retire at 59 1/2, take SS at 62. What are the income limits that SS payments start to get reduced? Do capital gains count as income? I assume 401K and IRA withdrawals would not count as income?

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NewEra 2026 said:

Take the money the govt stole from you as soon as you can get it.

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Pennst8 said:

Too dumb to respond to if this is your reasoning.

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razpsu said:

Someone mentioned health. I would recommend to everyone to get a ct dye scan. It will show whether you have cancer or a heart aneurysm. Physicals aren’t enough. You may be surprised what you find when you take this scan.

I have friends who took ss at 62 and 67. Isn’t the max you can make at 62, 25k before they take 2 for 1 dollar made and 65k at 67 for the same 2 for 1 dollar?

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MacNit said:

You do realize that if you were able to keep and invest $ taken out as tax to feed social security and were smart enough to invest in moderately successful accounts, those accounts would be worth many orders of magnitude than what you would get via social security?

Perhaps this is what the poster meant.

It is a scam.

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Pennst8 said:

I love the rich and well off, who ***** about help provided to those less fortunate. Always needing more. Disgusting.
Social Security was designed to help the poor of our country. Not whiny well off people. However, for it to work the wealthier of our citizens needed provide more. This came about as we just experienced the great depression. It's kind of a nice "christian" way of helping those less fortunate. Something your kind don't understand or care to appreciate.

A poorer person often lacks "other" savings (like a 401(k) or large savings account) to fall back on. If they are forced to retire during a market crash, a private account could be worth significantly less, leaving them with no safety net to cover basic needs like food and housing. The current Social Security system is progressive, it is intentionally tilted to help the poor. It replaces a higher percentage of pre-retirement income for low-wage workers compared to high-wage workers. But discussing this with Musk, Bezos and Trump loving folk is like arguing with someone about the world being round. By the way, it is.

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baltimorened said:

so, I'm on the same page, could you define "less fortunate"?

Sure there are a lot of people who are born into families with a lot of money, these go to the best schools, start life with money in the bank and may even have steps up in advancements in life. But the vast majority of us are not in this position. We come from immigrant families, low or middle class, get access to the same education in public schools, maybe go to a technical school to learn a trade. But, the bottom line, is that as individuals most of us start in the same place. And yet, the vast majority of us don't fall in the category of less fortunate - or maybe we do depending on your definition.

We have a labor participation rate of somewhere in the vicinity of 62%. So there are quite a few of us not participating in the labor force. I somehow doubt if all of that 38% is incapable of work...And there is always the military where a person can earn a living. learn a skill and simultaneously serve the country. There are many Americans who have chosen this route and are now putting their military skills to work earning a good living. Doesn't it work out to having opportunities and seizing them to better your lot in life.

Now if your definition of "less fortunate" is those incapable of work, disabled in some way, then you're right, we need to take care of them. But don't we? There are numerous federal and state programs aimed at this part of the population. Can we do better, sure we can. I'm not an expert on all the programs available, but if we need more or more funding in existing programs we should fight for it.

Insofar as Bezos, musk trump and other billionaires are concerned, they follow the Bernie Sanders lead in taxation They :"pay what they have to". And paying what they have to has been determined in both Republican and democrat administrations. Neither has decided to increase tax rates on the really high earners or owners of wealth. So maybe our politicians know more about the issue than we do.

I know you won't agree, but to me just taxing other people to pass money to someone capable of but not working, is just an easy cop out. What we should be doing is strengthening our schools so that students can learn the skills they need to support themselves in life. What we're doing in our school systems now - not all, but too many - is creating the environment for our children to fail. There aren't a lot of places for people who can't read or do basic math in either today's or tomorrow's workforce. At one point, just one example, one of the major auto firms, Ford I believe, has 5,000 openings for mechanics...can't find sufficient people with skills. And, these are good paying jobs.

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Indian rocks rich said:

Hey raz I hope you know that you get whatever they deduct back when you reach FRA. I think a lot of people think they take the money away and you don’t get it back.

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