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67? Why waiting a few years is a no-brainer for maximizing your social security benefits
Maybe a no brained assuming you live to 70 ; it’s a gamble waiting till 70; Uncle Sam keeps all your money paid into ssa for decades and you croak before ever taping it; I took it at full retirement age didn’t wait till 70 very happy with my choice it’s eorth more today than it will be when your 70
"it’s a gamble waiting till 70; Uncle Sam keeps all your money paid into ssa for decades and you croak before ever taping it"
It's also a gamble waiting till FRA. Did you have a specific reason for waiting that long (e.g. spousal benefits that increase so long as you defer benefits but only up to FRA)? This question is not meant to imply that I think taking early benefits is necessarily a good idea.
"it’s eorth more today than it will be when your 70"
SS is paid in inflation-adjusted (real) dollars, so the monthly benefit paid at age 70, or age 75 is worth the same as the monthly benefit paid at age 62 or age 65 or age 66. Of course if one needs the cash for living expenses at age 62, then it's priceless at that age. People's situations differ.
"SS is paid in inflation-adjusted (real) dollars, so the monthly benefit paid at age 70, or age 75 is worth the same as the monthly benefit paid at age 62 or age 65 or age 66. Of course if one needs the cash for living expenses at age 62, then it's priceless at that age. People's situations differ.
I think what you mean is Soc Security payouts are designed so that on an actuarial basis, if you die on the day the actuaries predict, you would have received the same total amount regardless of your age when you start receiving your SS.
I think what you mean is Soc Security payouts are designed so that on an actuarial basis, if you die on the day the actuaries predict, you would have received the same total amount regardless of your age when you start receiving your SS.
That statement is correct of course. But in my occasionally warped way of thinking, I was considering whether this October's monthly payment is worth more than next October's monthly payment. If the value of the income stream were declining over time due to inflation, then one would be better off taking the more valuable dollars now than the cheaper dollars later. Even if numerically one came out the same in number of dollars at the end.
But because SS is inflation adjusted, it doesn't matter whether you get, say $500K in lifetime dollars starting in 2019 (when nominal dollars are worth more), or starting in 2022 (when nominal dollars are worth less). You're getting real dollars, so that $500K has the same value no matter when you start.
Comments
Regards,
Ted
It's also a gamble waiting till FRA. Did you have a specific reason for waiting that long (e.g. spousal benefits that increase so long as you defer benefits but only up to FRA)? This question is not meant to imply that I think taking early benefits is necessarily a good idea.
"it’s eorth more today than it will be when your 70"
SS is paid in inflation-adjusted (real) dollars, so the monthly benefit paid at age 70, or age 75 is worth the same as the monthly benefit paid at age 62 or age 65 or age 66. Of course if one needs the cash for living expenses at age 62, then it's priceless at that age. People's situations differ.
But because SS is inflation adjusted, it doesn't matter whether you get, say $500K in lifetime dollars starting in 2019 (when nominal dollars are worth more), or starting in 2022 (when nominal dollars are worth less). You're getting real dollars, so that $500K has the same value no matter when you start.