retirement

Not yet but, it is coming up one of these days

I am curious to know why you would (or wouldnt) take early SSA or for that matter, a delayed SSA. I know delaying gains you more monthly, but if you are getting it longer, why not?

Here is an example of taking a benefit at 62 - 67 and the various totals:

I took it when I was sixty-six, my "full retirement age". I looked at how long it was going to take me to break even on cash flow basis if I waited until I was seventy and did not think waiting was worth it.

My decision was tempered by the fact that my dad only lived to be seventy. I am seventy-five now and feel like I am playing with house money.

I might add I worked until I was sixty-nine so the additional money made it easy for me to increase contributions to my 401k etc.

My understanding is that if you think you have made a bad decision down the road if you pay it all back you can still draw it at seventy at the increased rate.

Strictly a judgement call based on many personal factors, and guessing as to one’s life expectancy projections.

I have friends that died before even retiring.

That said, I started taking mine when my SS pretax broke the $2k level. A few months prior to my “full benefit amount at age 65. I was forcibly retired at that point.

Wife cosmetologist is 64 1/2 . her full retirement is 67

She wants to keep working, so we will likely delay hers a number of years. It’s not really needed at this point.

IN MY OPINION, taking SS at the earliest possible age is just not a smart move. Especially if for greed vs absolute necessity.

Where else can you get guaranteed 8% annual paper yield at zero risk?

I did not crunch any numbers but you may be missing the present value of the early cash flow plus the mortality risk.

I agree 100% that everyone's circumstances are different.

My job most days .. I can do with my eyes closed , I get paid well , not sure what i'd do with my free time .. I kinda think I'll keep going till 70 ( 5 years)

I'm 68 now, will be 69 in November. I took mine at my "full" retirement age of 66. I did the math and figured that the break even point on 66 vs. 70 would be age 81, and who knows how long I will live.
But i didn't dare take it before 66, as there is an income penalty. After a certain income amount, I think around 17,000, they penalize you 1.00 for every 2.00 of income over the 17,000.

When you retire only boils down to two things.

1) Do you enjoy your job? If you do, keep working.
2) Can you afford to retire? If yes and the answer to 1) is no, pull the pin and retire.

The obituaries are full of people who were working because they'd have gotten more SS benefits if they had kept working.

Everyone in my family lives to be old


My great grandmother , Mothers Grandma ..was 95 .. Grandpa was 89 , grandma was 89 .. both of them smoked .. Mom currently is 93

My Great grandma Dads grandma 92 , Grandpa was 89 , grandma was 95 , Dad died young .. alcoholic

Uncle is 80 , my aunt dads sister is 95

.. I like my job, its 20 miles to work on country roads .. 6am to 3 pm most days, no weekends , I take care of truck drivers and some customer calls .. been doing trucking for close to 40 years, its pretty easy for me at this point

In this equation, there is only one variable that you need to know, in order to calculate your maximum return...











...exactly how long you are going to live.

I agree #1 factor is age. Taxes,and do you need it to live or is it going to be invested is also a concern. It can raise your tax bracket, increase what you pay for medicare if your incomes too high or you can lose it in the market. My parents made it to 95 & 97 so my choice is easier than most.

Those numbers from age 65 and later are not the real numbers. At age 65 SSA takes $171.00 a month for your Medicaid????

That MIGHT cover the "transitory" inflation we're experiencing.

IMO, it depends on your health and financial situation. Then even at that anything can happen.

After 8 years on SS and Medicare my findings, if you’re healthy go with the cheapest plan, no so healthy go with total protection, no co-pays no deductibles. Advantage plans only works if you’re healthy, no monthly payment but big deductible if you get sick or pieces start breaking down. I took plan F at the start but that’s no longer available (but I still have it), I wanted EVERYTHING payed for, nothing out of pocket. Nice to walk in and get a $300,000 aorta stent then walk out with no bill. By all means find an independent agent to guide you thru the process. The scrip side too!
Also once you get Medicare you GET doctors fast, I have 9 different ones now. Before Medicare 3, they pass you around to all their buddies for a piece of the Medicare pie.

I plan to take it as early as possible, it's the same pot of money, just divided up depending on start date.
And money taken later is worth less because of inflation.
Another factor I don't hear people mention is quality of life, I see it with my mom, she'll probably live to 100, grandma did.
But once you get in your 80's, if you're healthy, you really don't need much money.
She just wants to take it easy, no travel, or anything.

So I'll retire at 60 with zero debt, paid off house and car, and take SS at 62, and hopefully enjoy 20yrs before I don't want to do anything.

I planned to retire end of this year. BUT after a meeting with an advisor this past spring . Ive decided to wait till end of Sept 2023 ( exactly one year from today)
I would have been leaving far to much money on the table to go before being vested in the Arizona Retirement pension and that happens 1st week of Sept 2023

I MIGHT push retirement to the end of 2023,,,,MIGHT. ................................ aka " doubt it ."
My wife is 10 years younger than I am so she has at approx 10 years and is socking money away in her retirement fund as fast as she can.

I turned 63 last Monday . And there is no way in hades Im waiting till 66 and a half. I feel like Im already much closer to the end than I am the beginning . Ive lost 34 friends on the past 12 months . Youngest one was this past spring and he only 52 .

It taught me live for today , as NONE of us are guaranteed tomorrow



A buddy of mine retired TODAY
Actually it was yesterday, he went in today to sign paperwork and turn in his security badge etc etc and went back home a free man
My money is one it was the best drive in his life .



There is no one answer as to when someone should retire.


Odds are against men to push it off much past early 60s . Odds are a man will not live long enough to regain what he lost by waiting.
Women is a different story

Thanks for posting this bigdad. It's an interesting topic with a lot of twists, turns and considerations. It's good to see different opinions from folks on this, even though individual circumstances vary greatly.

I’ve been working with an advisor this year, and even though I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about investing and managing finances, I’ve come to find out an aspect I never considered or knew much about… taxes!
I intended to take social security a little early, maybe 65 vs my full retirement age which is 67. But I don’t think I will do that now.
I have a lot of capital gains ( or I did, I think much of it disappeared this month ), and if my income as a single person is below 40K, I can sell off those investments and owe 0 capital gains tax. If I make $40,001 or more I’d owe 15%.
I also might be ahead if I convert my IRAs to Roth at a time I am keeping my income low.
Getting $30 grand or so a year social security might cost me more than that in potential tax savings for a couple years.
Those are things a good financial planner and or accountant can help sort out for clients. Everyone’s situation is unique so there is no one size fits all you’ll find online.

Which of course will be a surprise.......

I had to re-tire earlier this month with no warning.

One important factor for me, Medicare. I'll admit I haven't worked the numbers out and 62 is several years off, but the wife(younger than me) thinks if I retire, she retires. Right now we both make good money but are on my insurance. No way could I not have insurance and what the heck, I might just keep working to screw my wife's plans all up, lol.

In your scenario, you'd only owe taxes on $1, 15 cents, not the entire $40k
And if you die early, you'll be able to help Uncle Sam..............

The real answer to your question depends on if you have any other income other than Social Security. If you have other income, such as a pension, spouse income, IRA or 401k, and don't need the SS income then you can delay it until age 70 in order to get the maximum benefit.

You and I are on the same page!!

I retired right before I was 53 and started collecting my social security at 62. I’ll be 67 in March 2023 and have no regrets. I had 33 years of millwright work in a steel mill and really wanted to go a few more years but no one wanted to work anymore so no regrets there either.

I’m talking about the capital gains. If a single person earns under 40,000 and sells appreciated assets their capital gains tax rate on the sales is 0. Over $40,000 income it’s 15% though at some point maybe $250,000 it is even higher. That doesn’t mean their income tax is 0, it means their taxes on capital gains is 0.
Ordinary income tax rates and capital gains tax rates are two different things. From what I can tell I could have $1M in capital gains from selling stocks and if I had under $40,000 in income, be it from working, dividends, 401K distributions, social security etc, I’d owe no capital capital gains, at least to the IRS. States taxes on it might vary.
Under $40,000 income is the magic number for those under 65 getting cheap Obama care insurance too I believe.

Don't think that's correct

Current tax law does not allow you to take a capital gains tax break based on age. Once, the IRS allowed people over the age of 55 a tax exemption for home sales. However, this exclusion was closed in 1997

Unlike ordinary income, which is money that you earn through work or by selling the product of your work, capital gains are subject to their own set of taxes. (Ordinary income is taxed at income tax rates.) In 2022, capital gains are taxed at the following brackets:

0%: $0 – $40,000 Single / $0 – $80,000 Married
15%: $40,401 – $445,850 Single / $80,801 – $501,600 Married
20%: $445,851+ Single / $501,601+ Married

https://smartasset.com/taxes/capital-gains-exemption-for-seniors

I was self employed, my wife had a State job that had great health insurance. Her insurance covered me. We were 100% debt free and had some other retirement savings set aside. My wife has a few health issues, I'm pretty healthy. She is about a year and 9 months older then I am.

My wife reached being fully vested (15 years of service) in the State's retirement fund when she was 63, the next step up in retirement funding would have required she worked another 5 years. Her state pension covered the insurance for both of us until we each reached the Medicare age of 65, then her insurance automatically cut back to a supplement level (which wasn't very good). Her work pension still covers the Medicare costs, the advantage plans for both of us, and both of our prescription deductibles and co=pay costs. Once she reached that fully vested retirement from the state, she was ready to retire.

The last few years before I retired (2018) my business was slowing down, our little town had taken a beating from the recession of 2008 and never fully recovered. Once I took the shop expenses out of my gross income, the age 63 SS check was about the same size. That was about the same time the government was changing the deductions a small shop could take. The "Why am I working?" light started flashing. About that time I experienced a couple bouts of occupation related minor health scares that I took as warning signs.

I also did the math. The break even point on retiring early, or waiting until full retirement for me was 19 years, age 81. Most of the men in my family didn't make it that far. Then if we add in the concept they are telling us the SS system will go broke before I reach 82, my decision was pretty easy. I was collecting the SS check when covid hit. I sure was happy to see that deposit in my checking account every month. I doubt I would have made it through that mess without that SS check.

.

I would not take any money advice from Mastershake340. I'm pretty sure he has no understanding of even the most basic tax rules or obligations.

I have heard that if you are receiving the social security retirement pension and are under 70, you are limited on how much other income you can make. Is that true? One of my favorite activities is making money, and I don't want anyone trying to stop me or slow it down. I'm 63 and haven't seriously looked into SS. At the present, I'm happy with my business and my income. If i could start getting the SS $ now, but still be able to earn, maybe I'd take it.

How Much Can You Earn While Receiving Social Security?

If you opt to work while receiving Social Security before your full retirement age, you will only be able to receive a certain level of income before your Social Security benefit is temporarily reduced. The Social Security earnings limit is $1,630 per month or $19,560 per year in 2022 for someone who has not reached full retirement age. If you earn more than this amount, you can expect to have $1 withheld from your Social Security benefit for every $2 earned above the limit.

For example, suppose you are 65 years old, receive $2,500 in Social Security benefits every month and have a job that pays $2,000 a month. You are over the income limit of $1,630 by $370 each month. During a year, you will receive $24,000 from the job, which is $4,440 more than the annual earnings threshold of $19,560. As a result, $1 out of every $2 above the threshold will be withheld. In this case, $185 will be withheld every month from your Social Security checks. You can expect to receive $2,315 each month from Social Security. When you turn your full retirement age, your payments will be recalculated to give you credit for the withheld portion of your benefit.

I was going to wait till 62 like ole grand dad but I don't think I can and FULLY understand fully why he left early.
I'll be 59 1/2 in 2 years and that's looking good to me at this point. My wife's disabled and is collecting SSA and has her own insurance. We have no debt.

I had 2 great-grandmothers on my dad's side that lived to be 100. The got around ok but usually slept 16 hours a day!

I also was forced into retirement a month short of my 66th birthday in 2020 before that I wasn't even thinking about retirement. I didn't know you could work and collect SS so I signed up and got my first check shortly before I was let go , because of when I signed up so close to my 66th birthday I wouldn't be penalized. a fellow racer actually told me about it as he is close in age. It turned out to be the best thing as I worked for ungrateful, clueless idiots who still over two years later haven't found a replacement for me , I think its great ! I now work part time for a landscaping/ excavating contractor who calls me when he needs me sometimes only a few hours a week sometimes more and I enjoy it. My biggest concern is that in a few years I have to start withdrawing from an annuity I have from a previous job and the tax consequences involved.

My tax advice if you are able to comprehend my original posting, was to work with a good financial planner and or tax advisor.
I admitted that I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about finances but after starting to work with a good financial planner I’m learning things especially tax related that I knew little to nothing about.
The fact I can sell off stocks and mutual funds I’ve owned outside of retirement accounts, in one case a mutual fund I’ve bought in college 40 years ago and is now worth in the 6 figures, and owe no federal income taxes on it if my ordinary income is under $40,000 is one thing I have found. And that has nothing to do with age, I have no idea where anyone got the idea I was claiming that was retirement related, age 35 or age 65 you owe no capital gains on selling appreciated assets if your income is under 40,000 for singles or 80,000 for a couple.
Everybody’s situation is different so getting advice from a bunch of people yapping on an internet site is not a prudent strategy. In my situation I have a lot of appreciated assets outside of retirement accounts, thus lots of capital gains, most people have most of their savings in 401Ks or IRAs which are different because withdrawals from them are ordinary income not capital gains. There’s no one size fits all so that is where these planners earn their fees, analyzing each clients situation and coming up with a plan.
So again, work with a planner or good tax advisor instead of asking know it alls on the internet or brother in laws or coworkers or the like.

The government wants you to die before you collect. Collect when you can.

This

How many people today actually have a pension

401K , don’t get me started over the last year

And most have never heard of Rule 55 in regards to 401K

Also how does your home factor into retirement ?

Say you own a half million dollar home in northern WI , it’s paid for , and you have no kids to leave it to - My wife

Your cars

I have a lot to figure out sooner then later and haven’t even hit 60 yet

I can’t and won’t stay at my current job of 36 years much longer - I could see a few more years at best

Under this scenario; if someone had $ 20K in salary income for 2022, if they had bought a residential lot in Aspen in 1960 for $ 15K, sold it today in 2022 for $ 20,000,000 (capital gain) they would owe no tax? I think not.

Same with selling a 1971 Hemi-Cuda Vert.

I do agree with hire an expert, maybe a team.

I agree with the ones that basically say life expectancy is a big factor, and unknown. I plan to take mine at 62. Not only because you just don't know how long you'll live, but the dollar will be worth less later and it's very difficult to factor in inflation taking it later.

I would like to see the figures on how many pass at 65-70-75. I have quite a few friends that didn’t make 65 let alone 75, all that money put in and none taken out, and these are boomers, the ones who really filled up the cooky jars but it’s going broke?!

There is no cookie jar, there never has been. You were paying out the retirement benefits of the people who were retired while you were paying in. The excess, if any, got spent. Now you get to live on what the workers of today are putting in. Its a pyramid scheme, at best.

You would have been better off if that money got put into an investment account.

I came to that realization over 40 years ago. That's why I have never even thought about social security. I figured that the likelihood of it even existing by the time I retire was slim. But it is still here.
With the amount they are paying, and the high taxes here in Minnesota, it would take three or four months of social security checks just to pay the annual property taxes on my home. I can't afford to live on social security, that's for sure, so I'll keep working. Good thing I enjoy what I do!

https://taxfoundation.org/2022-tax-brackets/

No such thing as tax free capitol gains on investment income. People get tricked into thinking they don't pay taxes on capitol gains under $40K but you do because it's part of your income but since it's in a 12% tax bracket you don't have to file under capital gains tax because it's under 15% and not a benefit.. Once you get over $41775 the tax bracket is 22% so you file capital gains to save 7%.

You can avoid a capitol gain on your primary home up to $250K if single or $500K if married as long as you lived there for at least 2 of the 5 previous years. You can only use this every 2 years. Or you can invest the entire amount into a new primary residence and avoid any gain.

The 2022 bracket is raised to $41,775 Look at your tax return Here's an example, wages $41,775 cap gain $15,000 total income $56,775 minus standard deduction $12950 = $43825. So yes you will pay 12% tax on any amount of gain under the $41,766 and 15% on the gain over $40K.




https://taxfoundation.org/2022-tax-brackets/

If you enjoy what you are doing keep doing it many guys go a whole lifetime without actually doing physical work so their body isn’t getting beat up. If guys without hobbies or something to do retire they usually don’t last long just sitting around.

Yes they end up dying from all the choirs the wife finds you to do. 4-5 hours of [censored]!ng was better than 18 hours of it. Some then welcome the eternal retirement.

Well admit it if you own a car lot or something like that you aren’t really working. Heck you could do work like that till the day you die.

i had to re-tire early because of my MS.
as i started my machinist career with Rockwell International, i get a pension from them. sorta...........
they divested themselves years ago to just the aerospace industry.
after many buyouts and switcheroos, Boeing now has my pension to disperse.
it's a whopping $168.56 per month !!!
so it's this, plus a small 401k [that i have been saving for emergency's] and my wife's and my SS, that we get by on.
our house [built in 1872] is paid for, so it's not too bad for us to live on.
we don't go out, or vacation, just [sorta] live from day to day. not counting doctor or hospital visits.

And only one nipple !

That's me on the Freedom 95 Plan. 30 more years to go...

Kevin

If you paid into the SS system, even if you don't need it for retirement, collect it anyway. Unless of course you like to give $2,000, (give or take) every month to the government.

You paid in, receiving that monthly check is the only way you get any return on that investment. If you start collecting at 62, you can collect about 18 years before you loose some of what you possibly could get if you lived longer then 80 years old, assuming the system doesn't go broke before that.

They have some limiting numbers if you are earning over a specific income after you start collecting, but will readjust the numbers for after you reach your full retirement age. After your full retirement age, your income doesn't have any effect on the amount of the SS check. The only issue with collecting the SS check would be a possible income tax burden. You have tax people to figure that out.

Large mortgages and retirement don't seem to go hand in hand, so it's a big deal. Say you own a half million dollar home free and clear you've likely made other good financial decisions that allow you to keep it during retirement.

Everyone's situation is a little different. Check out www.opensocialsecurity.com to see the best optimization for your particular situation.

That was and is one thing that hurts me some. When I got divorced I bought my wife out for her share she never contributed to, bought my 401K out, and my pension. That’s part of life but I also over the years bought two used motorhomes and probably my one stupid move was also putting my heads up car on it. (11,500.00). So I have 1.5 years left of 800.00 a month at 2.74 percent interest. I could have paid it off sooner but at that percentage I wasn’t in a hurry.

Medicare part B premiums carry income penalty's now thanks to the 2006 tax cut bill. Part D was added later for the AFCA. It's figured on your modified income which includes 100% of SS plus all other income including tax exempt income before any write offs.. By taking SS you may double what you pay.



It's really fair to a working class person who saved for retirement . NOT! Since it charges a single person that makes $170,000 3 times more than someone @ $90K but the same as someone making $500,000. And over $500k only a few dollars more.

You do know why the drop off don’t you? Making $92,000 does NOT put into SS tax as say $300,000 a year does (7.5%), do the math. I’ll say there’s at least 50% or more in that lower bracket (poor people like me)

I retired five years ago. I'm planning on taking SS when I hit 67 which will be 6 years from now. I might wait until 70, but at the moment I'm leaning towards taking it at 67.

Medicare is health insurance and has nothing to do with SS earnings. A lot of people don't know that Medicare tax has no income limit like SS does. You pay on every dollar you earn. On top of that an additional .9% penalty is added to incomes over $200K. Also 90% of people pay the minimum medicare but at least make the brackets fair.

The max this year on SS earnings is $147,000. This is because it has a max payout and any income above the $147K is not used for your pension. SS is a retirement program based on your best earnings over 35 years.

Here's a good article on how SS ifs figured. It takes your monthly average over 35 years. Then uses whats called a PIA formula. You get 90% for 1 first $1024,then it drops to 32% after that up to $6172 and any amount over that drops again to only 15%.

If you're @ 1024 =$12,288 a year @ 90% SS is $11,059.20 a year Now add another $5148 which would add $61,776 @ 32% = $19,768.32 So your total income of $74064 would get you a $32056.32 pension. Now lets up it another $74064 to get our income up to $148,128 we only get 15% of that additional income so it adds another $11,109.60 to our pension. So as you can see you get over $11K for first $12K but only around $20K for your next $60K which = $32K for your first $74K but only $11K for the next $74K.


A person making $12,288 has a 90% total return.

One making $74064 is @ 45% total return.

and the highest income of $148,128 only returns 29%.


So even thou people don't believe it lower income people get a much better return on their total SS earnings.


https://socialsecuritygenius.com/how-social-security-is-calculated/

At age 67 I should get $3200 a month but if I wait until 70 to take SS I'll get around $4000 a month. I haven't decided yet but I'll probably start taking SS at age 67.

of course you get more at 67 than 62, in those 5 years you will be collecting money, but if you die before you collect waiting till 67 for the big payout, your payout just went poof in the air. So the saying goes, do you feel lucky?
I see people retire and die before they get 1 pension check because they wanted to stay the longest to get the big pay check a month..some get a few months and die, some never even make it. Since you paid into SS, then might as well collect it and enjoy it otherwise someone else that retired at 62 will , and is collecting from the pot we all chipped into.

I think you guys should all work and contribute till you are 75. Man you could e rich.

Couldn't agree more, wait as long as possible, you'll be rich!

Wife and I have worked since our teens. Neither have even collected a day of unemployment. I'll be 61 in a month, 62 in a year. I'm pulling the plug at 62. I refuse to work another 3 yrs just to get a few $$ in SS. My dad died at 84...my mom was 92. That gives me the chance to actually retire for 20ish years. Work 50 and retire for 20. I'm done. I have 20+ yrs in a pension, wife has 30+ in a 401k, I have health ins until Medicare kicks in,we have a rental property that can be sold if needed. Financial guy has us figured at 97% chance of successful retirement until age 95 if we quit at 62 using just my pension and our 2 SS income. Does not include the 401k( a couple other small savings) or the rental property. I'll take those odds and my SS...thank you!

My financial guy (mostly me) said I was tired of working. My wife and I both replaced our incomes when we retired, and since everything is paid for, we are living OK. we didn't want to work until the day we die.

Good thing I did retire at 62, I've been doing so many things I would have never been able to do while I was working. Starting the day off with that morning coffee on the porch swing with my wife by me side in the warmer months is better then any day at work ever was. Life is good,

We will deal with any troubles that may or may not come, when they happen. I will not afraid of the future I can not see. Collect that SS check, retire, and enjoy life while your health will still allow it. More money will not buy you more happiness.

Correct...I quit (Don't want to call it retired as the company that bought out our company is chock-full of idiots) a week before my 62nd birthday. Have not missed it one bit...not even a little. Miss some of the people, but for the most part, nothing else. I have a relative that has all the money he could ever want and has done nothing for the last 12 years except lament about how bad his life is. Money is not everything.

IMO, Health is obviously the most important factor at retirement age. Having lots of money might not matter if you don`t feel well enough to even want to do those things that money can buy you. I think most take it for granted that your health will be fine as you get older. Most people will have some health issues that will affect you when nearing retirement time. The earlier you can retire the better in my opinion.

If you enjoy reading history,
the story about the fight between FDR and “Muley Bob” ( long time North Carolina Congressman Robert E Lee Doughton)
over the morality of making the funding of Social Security a Pyramid Scheme,
and the route of the then “shovel-ready-jobs-program” now known as the NC Blue Ridge Parkway scenic road,
is well worth a read.

Stop at Doughton Park, the largest rest stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway during a “Dark Skies Night”
and read the story just after watching the sunrise.

It is true that “healthspan” is a superior way to evaluate your future over “lifespan.”

Whether to begin to take SS at 62 or 70.5
is more complex than commonly thought.

Larry Kotlikoff seems to understand the details better than 99.99% of Social Security employees:

https://www.amazon.com/Get-Whats-Yours-Secrets-Security/dp/1511321075

be sure to get the most recent version because details are constantly being changed.

Today’s younger USA generations are really getting “screwed over” by Social Security and I would not blame them if they eventually revolt.

Don’t listen to these guys that retired early and are living well and enjoying it. After almost 13 years of retirement it’s the worst thing I’ve ever done. If I was still working in the mill I would have a bigger lump of money to give my kids and enjoying the 100 plus degree temperatures in the mill changing my shirts sometimes three times a day. Man I miss that. And the gang showers with 17 other naked sweaty guys with 20 more waiting in line. Man I wonder if I can go back. Don’t do the same mistake I made. Work till you die.

I retired 10 years ago @ 55 and will still wait until 70 for SS. Why I don't need it yet and it would just go in the bank and be taxed @ 32%. My federal tax bill is already over $35,000 without it! Plus all my family lived to mid 90"s and I'll need the money more then than now.

Retiring 3 years ago I have never been busier with my cars and family. It amazes me how many people make work their life. A month after my retirement my boss died at 55, he worked himself to death. Please take into consideration your health not just money when you retire.

Wife retires in two years at 52…. did I mention she’s way smarter than me?

I'm out at 62 years old. That will put me at 40 years at my current job, if I make it that long... I'll find something else to do, and it won't involve waking up at 3:00 am, to be to work at 5:00am.

that is pretty much it right there.

i make sure the docs and hospitals around here have a regular customer.
that's work isn't it ?

I’m my own boss and I have 5 cars waiting to finish so I’m not really quitting just another line of work

I just erased all the 4-5am alarms from my phone that were from my old work schedule.

By the end of this month, I'm out.
36 years as a Union Carpenter with a solid 32 years worth of "Good Years". I had to reach 30 to get the full pension locked in.
The Pension is good and when I move out of California, there are NO restrictions on what work I can do. The Union does limit what construction work I can do in this region.
Theoretically, I can take up full time Construction out of state and do quite well....
I'm anxious to take a break from it though. I'm still in good shape and can work.....I just want to work on the house and car stuff for awhile.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/730114

sample quote

In the study, work stress was defined as jobs with high demand and low control - for example when an employer wants results but denies authority to make decisions. "If you have high demands but also high control, in other words you can make decisions, this may even be positive for health," said Professor Ladwig. "But being entrapped in a pressured situation that you have no power to change is harmful."

Impaired sleep was defined as difficulties falling asleep and/or maintaining sleep. "Maintaining sleep is the most common problem in people with stressful jobs," said Professor Ladwig. "They wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning to go to the toilet and come back to bed ruminating about how to deal with work issues."

"These are insidious problems," noted Professor Ladwig. "The risk is not having one tough day and no sleep. It is suffering from a stressful job and poor sleep over many years, which fade energy resources and may lead to an early grave."

end quote

Interesting 360view….. if there’s one thing about my workplace is that I put more stress on myself than management ever has. I’ll probably be in for a rude awakening when I change jobs. I’ve basically come and gone as I pleased for 25 years. Racing, coaching travel softball teams, my daughters school events….. while the pay hasn’t been the greatest looking back they let me be a “dad” and that was gold.

I agree. Wish I had someone tell me to quit working for someone and do my own thing SOONER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why does high skool and college teach everyone to become a slave to "the man"?!?! I'm not saying it's easy but MANY of the small business owners I know make $250-$500k/yr; plumber, cement guy, HVAC guy, etc. Unless you are a doctor, partner in a law firm or senior managment at a large company, that just isn't obtainable (cept maybe the lotto). I literally KILLED myself designing and programming industrial automation and robots. The deadlines were unreal. 2AM service call across the country to solve the impossible before the next shift started while work piled up back at the office. I would literally get calls while I was out of town asking when I'd have a design or program done BACK AT THE OFFICE. For $130K. THAT WAS BS! No that was STUPID!!!! Last 75 degre days here in Detroit were Wed and Thurs. I took them off and didn't even have to beg for permission.

I am done at the end of this year. 36 in law enforcement, with two terms as Sheriff. The last few years have been the worst, with all the stuff going on.
I will just turn 63, and plan to draw immediately. The difference in waiting to FRA is a hundred thousand dollars in my pocket when the FRA day arrives. Do i want a few more bucks then, or do i want a few less bucks, but 100k in hand.?

If i dont make it to FRA that money is gone. In my view the only person who should hold out are those who will need as much as possible to keep them in dog food and government cheese.

The SS i draw will work for me, and also help with not needing to withdraw from my IRA. Collect early, collect late; it’s the same amount around age 81. One finance guy showed that post 81, is when more money is doled out after then, for those who gambled and waited.

Just as with my DROP option, versus getting a few more bucks monthly- The nest egg i get at the end of the year would take twenty five years to catch up to. That doesnt count the investment return, so it could be the extra money may never catch up. Same with SS. Save that money as it comes in early, the larger amount drawn may never match up.

Everyone has different needs. Sadly the less a person needs the income to get by, more choices they have.

Congratulations on escaping the world of Law Enforcement. It has turned to crappola and I cannot wait to escape. Beyond thankless. No winning. I'll leave it at that.

I was a n
Navy corpsman 4yrs active the rest was being a nurse for the veterans administration too much stress,my hands now shake,I've got alot of anxiety,have hi bp,had a stroke.My wife's a angel took care of me and my medical problems,between my government retirement, and va benefits they help but I'm still working at Napa part time and that's OK I love cars!lol!

I've thought about auto parts store part time if I need to work after retirement. Being around car parts would feed my car fanatic hunger a little bit Also thought it might be cool to drive dealership shuttle van.

I've got 6 weeks left to work until I put Johnny Paycheck on my outgoing message on my work phone and start the vacation countdown to retirement! I'm 65 already by a few months and my full benefit for SS is 66 and 6 months. At this point, I'll wait for that even though it's only like $80 a month more. My wife is already taking SS and I will just live off my stock dividends until I start SS. Working for the power company for 44 years is long enough. I enjoyed every day of being a lineman for the first 28 years and loved my job as an inspector UNTIL Dook Energy bought our company out in 2012. Dook could screw up a 1 car funeral. I will miss my friends at work, but I've got plenty of work to do out in the garage 40' behind the house...lol. I'm sure looking forward to it!

“Buck” Duke loved the electricity business even more than tobacco, aluminum or Universities.
He put his cousins the Lees in charge of his electricity company and they ran it pretty well for many years.

Starting with Kentucky born CEO Jim Rodgers it truly has gone far downhill and deserves the Dook rename.

Bill Lee in particular did the world’s best job of building and staffing Nuclear Power plants.

Now I would not be surprised to hear on the news that a Dook Nuc plant has had a serious accident.

The few people from legacy Dook who aren't too good to talk to us say that Bill Lee was awesome. Bill Johnson was the same way, but Jim Rogers and the board conspired against him before the merger. Johnson was to be the new CEO of the company after the merger, but he only made it about 20 minutes before the board voted him out and reinstated Rogers. The NC Utilities Commision came within a gnats ass of undoing the merger unless Rogers stepped down. They named Lynn Good as CEO, then Rogers stepped down and supposedly went to Africa to help some pigmy tribe set up an electrical system. Mr.'s. Good has done a decent job, but there's too many idiots between her and those of us out being the face of the company.
Bill Johnson moved on to be CEO of the TVA for several years, then got recruited to be CEO of PG&E long enough to see them thru bankruptcy over the forest fire stuff. Bill is one of those bosses who made you feel like you worked with him, not for him! He's kicked back taking it easy now. Enough hijacking.....lets get back to retiring!

I'm one year away from 62 and I'm calling it quits at that point. My medical is covered by the VA and I get a pretty good check from them for a 70% disability rating. With the SS I will get at 62 plus the VA I can cover all my expenses and then some. That completely leaves out my 401 K from the equation which isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things. I can work when and if I want to make a few more bucks so I see no point in working until I'm almost dead.

I like reading what others are doing/planning/thinking/experiencing for financing their retirements. Like someone else said, its easy, you just need to know when your going to die.

I don't think anyone said it, but one of the reasons I'm contemplating the wait until I'm 70 is to maximize my wife's benefit when I'm gone. There is a fair chance that she'll be around for another 35 years after we retire.

SS is a government program, to be able to receive any of it, the government has to keep meeting the obligation, regardless of how it was funded. Without getting political, that option seems to be loosing ground pretty fast.

Its no longer a game of one simple question, 3 questions will need to be considered.

The 1st question is: When will I die?
The 2nd question is: How long will the government continue to meet the obligation it committed to back in the 1930s?
The 3rd question is: Will they change the rules to receive payment that may eliminate or greatly reduce what they will pay out to me?

The 1st obviously we don't know Do we want to? .

The 2nd I think the government will meet it long enough for everyone here and we'll be grandfathered in for changes in age requirement (or most of us)

The 3rd I think you're right and we will be seeing reductions