Anyone over 70 who took social security at 62 and now regrets it? (friends, single)
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I waited until FRA, but regret NOT taking it at 62. I had my reasons, but the math suggests that taking it at 62 is the best option for any "normal" (meaning no extraordinary circumstance) individual. Could never understand why people wait if they have no other intervening conditions.
In simple terms: Your life expectancy, minus age 62, time the amount per year your will collect IS GREATER THAN waiting until Your life expectancy, minus FRA, times the amount per year you will collect.
That calculation doesn't even include an amount you might earn on the money while you have it in your pocket instead of leaving it in SS bucket awaiting FRA.
If I took my social security at 62 and I did not make it to 70, I would not be able to tell if I would be regretting.
If I did not take my social security and I did not make it to 70, I would not be able to tell if I would be regretting.
Is the opinion about "regretting" taking SS early ONLY a financial one?
I'd think that a person who took it at 62 would know whether they regret it well before they got to 70.
Some people don't NEED the "extra" early SS -- but they'd like to have it....to save or spend. THey're rather have it in their pocket, than leave it in Uncle Sam's.
If a person could indeed get by and then some -- w/o SS but let's say not be able to afford to take as many vacations as they want, or do gift as much as they like -- even just but presents for others -- without the SS, then I'd think that person would know before they got to 65, 67, or 70 -- whether they regret it or not.
For some -- maybe even many -- early SS may NOT be "needed" but it can provide more breathing room. And as we know, some people need -- scratch that -- are more comfortable with more breathing room than others.
I don't put people whose early SS is "discretionary" in the same category as they "need" it.
Well, it may be that the ones that would regret it are dead, and their surviving spouse is suffering because of it.
I would agree that if I was single, the impetus to delay would be greatly reduced. I’d probably file at FRA instead of 80. Ironically, DW wants me to collect now, because my current SS amount is still more than double what hers is.
I also would tend to think that the ones that would regret it the most, actually did delay, as that is a very deliberate action, while filing at 62 is sort of passive. It IS tough knowing each month I delay, I am not getting that $3250, then $3270, and so on. That is why I know waiting until 70 is out of the question. But the math shows that should I live until 80, or right before I die, if DW is still alive, I will surely be glad I did.
And some wait because they enjoy their job and find it fulfilling. They are happy with their work/life balance.
That's a factor I think.
As we get older, it becomes more difficult to tolerate a stressful work environment, either mentally stressful, or physically stressful.
Are you talking about waiting to retire? or Waiting to take SS?
When to retire, and when to take SS are two entirely different issues.
Not always correlated.
i started collecting at 62 and got a part time job at 63 .. i dont mind one bit paying a couple of hundred dollars in penalties every year because i make too much ..i cant stand being at home all the time and i dont travel ..
I took mine at 62 and never regretted it. My wife hasn't had the best of luck with her health and I'm taking care of all the housework, shopping, cooking, etc. Plus I like to be around in case she takes another tumble like she did a couple years ago, breaking her wrist. I retired from my job at 52. Worked for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. They were changing the retirement system around and, if I hadn't retired then, I would have worked another 8-10 years and still drawn the same amount. Plus she has her pension from the Federal government.
i started collecting at 62 and got a part time job at 63 .. i dont mind one bit paying a couple of hundred dollars in penalties every year because i make too much ..i cant stand being at home all the time and i dont travel ..
Well, you don’t really pay a penalty when you earn too much, you are just giving back some of the SS you collected. You will get it back, over time, once you stop working or hit FRA. That was another reason it has been was easier for me not to file, I was a paid consultant for the last 2 years, and while the amounts ended up not being enough to factor in, the original contract allowed (and hoped for) considerably more. I resigned this year, just in case, now that we are traveling again.
Just because you take it doesn't mean that Congress can't still mess with it.
This is the great unknown. I doubt that anything will happen during Biden's remaining years, but a future administration with a compliant Congress could do all sorts of damage.
My Dad, who died last summer at 93 would have been better off to wait until 70. His FRA was 65 in November 1993, and that winter I was working in Moscow with some oil and gas clients. Long distance phoning was a real pain from the ex-Soviet Union so I was out of the loop with what was happening with Dad.
Had I been in the States I would have probably helped with this decision, and it would have been to wait, but one of my brothers with a take-the-money-and-run mindset instead advised him to file. He lived remarkably frugally, always on less than his SS income alone notwithstanding dividends and other income. I calculated just over one hundred thousand bucks in enhanced (70+) SS payments were consequently lost, even accounting for bank interest for those five years he was taking his FR benefit.
But with government meddling, who knows. Maybe it's best to take it while you can.
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