60+ year old thread.

Stay well Mark! It's bad when you can't have your bourbon. I'm not supposed to, but....

36* and headed for a sunny 55* today. Happy to say that the greenhouse held 50* with the one little heater, so that is great. My thermostat control for it came late yesterday, so now I can put a lower set and hold temp in there. I may just stick with 50*! (I need the T'stat because the space heater will get above 60* by itself, and that opens the roof vents - kind of defeating the purpose!)

Have a great one everybody.

 

I made a simple calculator to see the impact of taking SS early. Several caveats: income taxes not considered; may be small rounding errors; I am just a guy on the internet, not a financial advisor.

Caveats out of the way, I do have years of Excel experience, so the method is correct. The only reason this table would not be correct is if there is something I don't understand about Social Security, not because my formulas are incorrect.

Here is a sample screen shot. Enter your estimated monthly SS at Full Retirement Age (FRA), and the table shows you some interesting info.

Column C is the amt rec'd each month at the reduced rate from taking early. Column E shows the monthly reduction amt
Column F shows how much $$$ you have rec'd by FRA (66yrs 6mos for me)
Column G shows how many months it would take me to get back the amt in col F if I had waited until I could get my FRA (basically if I had waited until 66yrs6mos)
Then, column J shows how much I will lose if I live to be 85yrs of age (average US male Life Expectancy)

Kind of interesting. If you have Excel and want a copy of this, just send me a PM.

 

@Pablo8

I sent you the requested copy. Let me know if it does not arrive.

 

Hi all, a couple things came to mind, so I'm going back to quote. Not that I'm an expert, but I hate when people make stuff difficult when it's not. Or at least doesn't have to be.

I know you are do it yourself guy! I had advantage of a financial salesman who was changing careers, but what we did, anyone can. Go to Medicare.gov, and look for selecting plans. You enter your Zip code. You need a meds list, and your Doctors. If you give it that, it comes back with everything in your zip you can buy (you don't need an agent). You can select multiple plans and compare right on the site. NO salesman will call. They make it easy to select and choose what's best for you.

If you haven't started collecting yet, GET THIS! SS data is easy enough to follow, but this makes it that much easier if you want to draw early. In my case, it was a simple choice to take retirement money for a year and a half, then SS at 66 2 months.

That is all!

 

I had several people ask me for the file. Not sure why I didn't just upload it initially, but then you all know I'm old, so...

 

Good morning, all!

 

Good morning!

 

Good morning. Another busy Friday. It does beat shopping on Saturday. One of my stops is Chuck Levin's Music center to pickup a guitar for my son.

 

If I see a retired guy shopping on Sat/Sun he must be with the wife who is NOT retired, OR I think "What is wrong, really wrong.......with you or broken or.......?"

I added to the Christmas lights yesterday. Going a little nuts this year - because - retired.This is from yesterday AM, will take a pic this AM. South fence, I am looking North (lousy phone cam in dark, sorry) - I surprised my wife with this:

 

Morning all. Not too bad in NC this morning. High in the mid 50s with showers moving in overnight. Ordered some Blink security cameras off Amazon yesterday. Looks like they should be a simple install.

 

Morning folks.
Taking that step toward retirement and social security is a confusing and difficult step. Gather any and all the information you can and make the best choice that fits what you want out of retirement. Life is good if you are comfortable with what you are getting from SS and Medicare.
Totally threw in the towel 7 years ago and haven't looked back. Retired 6 months before my full age of 66 and only lost a minamal amount of money. My mental health was well worth leaving early and getting away from the bull crap. Good luck to all planning and have a great day to all.
Hope you feel better Mark.

 

Good Morning all, and woo and hoo!

Greenhouse thermostat actually did what it's supposed to. It's 32* this morning, and I know it kept the greenhouse at 48*-50* all night. So, one heater is sufficient, and the control works!

The lights are all done (well, except a crepe myrtle experiment I'm still putzing with), the tree is up, and most of the yard has the frozen victims removed. Great way to start a weekend!

 

Enjoy the day folks.

 

So while the calculator is busy ........... What is the SS impact on your spouse benefit if you wait until you are 70, then get clobbered in a crosswalk at age 80? I finally decided when the full amount was due - I'd take it. We were both still working and I simply plowed the funds into investment accounts. My family has a history of heart problems and despite the advances of medical science, 85 seems like a stretch. Slightly negative outlook but it made possible the lovely value increases we've seen over the past four years. A bird in the hand so to speak.

 

Good morning all from the Great Lakes State of Michigan. I am just going to build a small wall and wait for my interior door to arrive. I want to close a 60" opening between rooms in the basement. Putting in a 80"x 36" prehung door. The wall needs to be 22" x80". So that will keep me busy. Other than that weather is GREAT no snow and temps in the 40's. So everyone have a good day and weekend. Be healthy, wealthy, and wise. Have a goood weekend also.

 

Another lousy photo. A good camera on a tripod would work, but too lazy. Almost done on this one:

 

Welcome to the porch. Best place on the forum. Join in and enjoy.

 

So I got $numbers from SSN this AM. $2961 FRA, $2158 now. Opened the table and said poop. Dummie question (be gentle it's still early here and I haven't made my Brazil coffee yet). Is there a simple way to to shift the ages, dates? I get Full at 66 year 8 months, just a shift of 1 month............do I need to change every row manually? Am I not holding my head right? THANKS AGAIN!!

 

There are several SS calculators on line that are quite accurate. When you look at the monthly benefit keep in mind that federal income taxes are taken from it, in many states state income tax is taken from it and when you are on Medicare the Medicare premium is also taken. I currently have no idea what Medicare takes but I think it’s around $170 a month (it depends in part on what your income is). It could be a little more. So when you add up the taxes and Medicare premiums it’s quite a chunk coming out of your SS. Keep that in mind when calculating retirement income.

 

???
CA sucks worse than WA, that is for sure. We have no state individual income tax (businesses do though). Yes taxes are an important consideration because I will continue my side businesses for a few more years, so that may cause me to not take early. Medicare won't be for a few more years as I am 62.5
But none of this is what I was asking. I was specifically asking about the spreadsheet. Thanks.