I just retired

[Consigliere]

62 and 5 months

Perfect.

The key now is whether to take Social Security. Financially it makes more sense to wait until 70 - but will the system still be there in eight years?

 

[HoustonSaint68]

Perfect.

The key now is whether to take Social Security. Financially it makes more sense to wait until 70 - but will the system still be there in eight years?

I hear you. As a practical matter, I don't see any way that social security would get killed outright, but I could definitely see some type of means test coming.

And, by the way, the above is NOT an invitation to discuss partisan politics implications or issues.

 

[Crawdaddys]

Perfect.

The key now is whether to take Social Security. Financially it makes more sense to wait until 70 - but will the system still be there in eight years?

For me, the question would be will I be around in 8 years.

 

[urzombiefood]

Who doesn't love a good retirement post. Congrats!

Class of 2035!

 

[Swampy Saint]

For me, the question would be will I be around in 8 years.

Precisely

 

[zeetes]

i don't even want to know how many years i have left. i invested my 401k in jameson.

 

[HoustonSaint68]

i don't even want to know how many years i have left. i invested my 401k in jameson.

Well, if you didn'y drink it yet I expect that it will only increase in value. That's kinda like an investment, isn't it?

 

[zeetes]

Well, if you didn'y drink it yet I expect that it will only increase in value. That's kinda like an investment, isn't it?

wait.. i wasn't supposed to drink it? i need a new financial advisor because i'm just not cutting it.

 

[urzombiefood]

wait.. i wasn't supposed to drink it? i need a new financial advisor because i'm just not cutting it.

As your new financial advisor I recommend you "cut it" with a little ice.

 

[Tapxe]

For me, the question would be will I be around in 8 years.

The trouble with SS is that the cap on earning has not gone up enough to acct for inflation. 6.2K is the cap whether you make 176K or 400 billion.

It's a political football, but one which is responsible for keeping more elderly out of poverty than any other program ever.

If that's not worth taking some money from high earners, IDK what is. Double the cap and SS just got solvent for years and it only impacts people earning >176K. As someone who only dreams of that kind of income, I'm ok with it. They get plenty of other benefits and honestly if elderly and retired have more money, they'll spend it creating money velocity which increases tax collections.

SS is not an entitlement. It's a pay as you go program.

Also, you should do some research on America prior to implementation of SS.

How Older Americans Got By Before Social Security

Pensions, annuities, savings accounts and mattresses were among options of what to do with your money before the existence of social security.

www.aarp.org

So how did older Americans get by? Website Gobankingrates.com compiled a list of 16 things that served as a safety net for seniors before Social Security, though “safety net” doesn’t really apply to many of the options, which include panhandling, moving into almshouses or poorhouses, or simply dying impoverished, which was the fate that befell 1 in every 2 older Americans in the years after the 1929 stock market crash.

A 2016 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showed that Social Security benefits lifted more than 22 million Americans above the poverty line the previous year. The study estimated that without Social Security, more than 40 percent of seniors in American would be living at or below the poverty level.

Essentially, if you don't make SS solvent, prepare to take care of your parents and hope you have kids that can.

 

[longtime lurker]

Salute and congrats!