Anyone over 70 who took social security at 62 and now regrets it? (depression, support)

[mathjak107]

If it’s free I will bet it only looks at ss and no other factors .

Usually you have to pay for A full work up

Social security solutions has all different work ups you can pay for

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

We helped beta test fidelitys software they were going to roll out their optimizing social security software for in-house use .

It did a great job finding our max payment .

My wife had already taken ss at 62 .

The plan had her stopping her ss at fra …she would let it grow until 70 when she would file .

At 70 I would be 68 so it had me file restricted application for half hers .

At 70 I would file for mine , and she would get a spousal adder .

It was great for finding our biggest payment .

But as I said in my review of it , it failed and dropped the ball in integrating it in to the whole plan .

It failed to recognize we would have spent down a few hundred thousand dollars that could be generating income for us forever but was gone with this plan .

It didn’t look at tax ramifications or rmd factors , Medicare factors , etc .

It assumed one could safely layout the money while delaying

And so they pulled it from use as it was only looking at ss and no other effects of delaying.

I haven’t heard they revised it and brought it back.

There was likely no way to incorporate all the things that needed to be considered , easily and just looking at ss payments in isolation likely didn’t mean much without all the other factors considered for most.

What if those larger ss payments triggered Iirma surcharges on Medicare for example .
Or what if ss got taxed because the bigger payments pushed you over that line ..

So way to many income ranges , asset ranges and personal situations for cookie cutter answers

I need to look at the calculations for RMD's and Medicare. With the new law I won't have to take RMD's until 75. But, I might use a small amount of money for the first couple years I retire and delay SS (approximately 67 to 69). I figure I will be working on the house those two years, staying close to home and spending time at the gym. The tricky part is getting through next next 6.5 years. If that goes well I may work until 69. If I need to leave / retire earlier I may try my hand at something else (more fun).

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

Personally I would never not enjoy as much of what we scrimped and saved and not have as much as we could part of the budget …as it is just because of how sequence risk and markets work there is a good chance we will still end with about what we started under just average outcomes.

I don’t want to just look at our money .

Our plan was to live better in retirement than we did while scrimping ,saving and raising a family.

If nothing else , if we come in under budget for a few years we will just get a new car every 5 years ..it has been my thing since 1974

Some of us are much more stoic. Not to mention less wealthy.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by mitchmiller9

My brother-in-law took his SS at 62 and is now 84. He seems to regret it, but he is still around at 84.

One thing missing in the discussion is that the propensity to spend is higher for those living on annuities versus those living on returns from a stock portfolio of comparable value.

I'm 66, retired since just shy of 58, and am patiently waiting until age 70 to start drawing SS. I estimate I'll get about $60K annually from SS after including COLAs for the next four years. I will endeavor to spend every penny of my SS each year. I won't need to touch my other savings. That will be my goal. If I had taken SS earlier, I'd be relying more on a stock portfolio to generate income and would always be fearful of spending knowing that stock market returns are not reliable over a short period of time (a few years).

For perspective, I spent about $23K last year.

This is going to turn out to be very smart as the stock market reverts to the mean.

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by Wile E. Coyote

Some of us are much more stoic. Not to mention less wealthy.

It has nothing to do with wealthy . Wealthy is also a relative term .

In our neighborhood we don’t even have an income that is the average here .

But in other places it’s considered wealthy .

Whatever the amount is it allows a safe withdrawal rate of x amount percentage wise .

I would want to enjoy that when it was combined with other income I had .

If one has little savings then it is what it is and a safe withdrawal rate being added in is not factored so this thinking wouldn’t apply to them . But whether it’s 300k or 3 million the same rules apply .

Whether one chooses not to spend what they can is up to them , but then why work so hard to save and not enjoy it.


You may as well donate it then to a cause you support yearly and make use of it if one is just going to look at it and not use it.

Sure some just have nothing they want to spend it on , I get it …but I certainly would have elevated my lifestyle regardless of what I had if I could afford a better lifestyle or do more for Others

[mathjak107]

There are three kinds of personalities when it comes to money .

There are those who want money because to them it represents , security , wealth and independence..to them they like having money more than spending money .

The second type likes money for the the things money buys .while security is important, looking at it is not important, so they like money mostly for what it buys and the choices in life it gives them .

I fit in that group .

Then there is a third type which is like the owner of the company I worked for …they already have all the money they would ever need , they buy all the things they want but for them it’s what I would call the art of the deal .

They like growing what they have and just increasing and increasing wealth by successfully growing a business or enjoying the fruits of big investments..

So yeah , I get that some just like looking at money without really fully enjoying the things money can buy or do but it is never something I could see doing with what we worked so hard to accumulate.

I can see if someone had a need to provide for family after they died or had a disabled love one to worry about if they were no longer here .

But as it is just spending an inflation adjusted 4% left legacy money 95% of the 122 rolling retirement periods we have had as well as left more then you started with 90% of the time as long as you used 35- 40% equities

So it tends to do both , provide legacy money and provide a safe withdrawal rate to up the budget and enjoy.

I guarantee that if all of us were handed an extra 20k and told we could only have it if we spent it , just about all of Us , if not all of us ,would find a way to enjoy it .

In fact if it was a yearly thing and then it stopped , most would be disappointed once they got used to enjoying it.

Of course there will always be a few who say not me …I wouldn’t have anything to spend it on but that isn’t going to be many. , especially if you live in areas where you can enjoy it.

But also many who spend little of what they can have homes that need repairs or updates that should be done and of course they don’t do them and the homes end up in disrepair

[Nausikaa]

How many people who have commented on this thread are over 70 and took SS at 62?

The thread is clogged with rich people who are waiting for more money.

As a real person, yes I took SS at 62 and I am over 70. No I don't regret it for one moment as we have travelled all over the Caribbean, Canada and Europe. We have enough to live on and we enjoy ourselves. We are not millionaires. Waiting until 70 is stupid, unless you desperately need the money.

All these graphs that show how you can gain $25 more make me laugh.

PS. I took on a hobby in 2008 of being a point churner. When CC’s started offering travel points I read a forum where they showed you how to maximize points. I found it interesting and made the most of it. We rarely paid for plane tickets. Much better than working.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

There are three kinds of personalities when it comes to money .

There are those who want money because to them it represents , security , wealth and independence..to them they like having money more than spending money .

The second type likes money for the the things money buys .while security is important, looking at it is not important, so they like money mostly for what it buys and the choices in life it gives them .

I fit in that group .

Then there is a third type which is like the owner of the company I worked for …they already have all the money they would ever need , they buy all the things they want but for them it’s what I would call the art of the deal .

They like growing what they have and just increasing and increasing wealth by successfully growing a business or enjoying the fruits of big investments..

So yeah , I get that some just like looking at money without really fully enjoying the things money can buy or do but it is never something I could see doing with what we worked so hard to accumulate.

I can see if someone had a need to provide for family after they died or had a disabled love one to worry about if they were no longer here .

But as it is just spending an inflation adjusted 4% left legacy money 95% of the 122 rolling retirement periods we have had as well as left more then you started with 90% of the time as long as you used 35- 40% equities

So it tends to do both , provide legacy money and provide a safe withdrawal rate to up the budget and enjoy.

I guarantee that if all of us were handed an extra 20k and told we could only have it if we spent it , just about all of Us , if not all of us ,would find a way to enjoy it .

In fact if it was a yearly thing and then it stopped , most would be disappointed once they got used to enjoying it.

Of course there will always be a few who say not me …I wouldn’t have anything to spend it on but that isn’t going to be many. , especially if you live in areas where you can enjoy it.

But also many who spend little of what they can have homes that need repairs or updates that should be done and of course they don’t do them and the homes end up in disrepair

I have a disabled loved one to provide for and it happens to be me.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

It has nothing to do with wealthy . Wealthy is also a relative term .

In our neighborhood we don’t even have an income that is the average here .

But in other places it’s considered wealthy .

Whatever the amount is it allows a safe withdrawal rate of x amount percentage wise .

I would want to enjoy that when it was combined with other income I had .

If one has little savings then it is what it is and a safe withdrawal rate being added in is not factored so this thinking wouldn’t apply to them . But whether it’s 300k or 3 million the same rules apply .

Whether one chooses not to spend what they can is up to them , but then why work so hard to save and not enjoy it.


You may as well donate it then to a cause you support yearly and make use of it if one is just going to look at it and not use it.

Sure some just have nothing they want to spend it on , I get it …but I certainly would have elevated my lifestyle regardless of what I had if I could afford a better lifestyle or do more for Others

I know you are lower income in NYC MJ -- LOL. I mean, if you don't have a $50M condo with a view of Central Park you're just one of the hired help there -- LOL. But, a lot of us live amongst regular people. So a few million is nothing to sneeze at.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Originally Posted by Nausikaa

How many people who have commented on this thread are over 70 and took SS at 62?

The thread is clogged with rich people who are waiting for more money.

As a real person, yes I took SS at 62 and I am over 70. No I don't regret it for one moment as we have travelled all over the Caribbean, Canada and Europe. We have enough to live on and we enjoy ourselves. We are not millionaires. Waiting until 70 is stupid, unless you desperately need the money.

All these graphs that show how you can gain $25 more make me laugh.

PS. I took on a hobby in 2008 of being a point churner. When CC’s started offering travel points I read a forum where they showed you how to maximize points. I found it interesting and made the most of it. We rarely paid for plane tickets. Much better than working.

You obviously have not really read the thread. No one is discussing $25. Most people commenting here did not even wait until FRA. Some people are worried about having money in old age for things such as long term care. For those that spend their money flying around pumping CO2 into the air with all their airplane rides I suspect they will turn to the government when it comes time when they need further assistance. But, other people are more responsible than that. Good luck.