My fellow Americans (a social security question)
I’m not near retirement age yet (I like to tell myself, since I’m still in my 50s) but is the general wisdom that you should start taking Social Security at full retirement age (66 yrs 4 months) or postpone until 70?
I got my yearly social security statement and the difference in monthly benefits would be about 46% different!
I’m thinking that plodding on to 70 before taking social security makes more sense. Especially since my mortgages should be paid off by the time I’m 69.
I would have kept working until 70 had my employer not ceased operations, but I didn’t have the option to do that so I filed when I was first eligible. Certainly it is better financially if you hold off out for the maximum benefit, assuming you’re planning to live long enough to make up the difference 😉
I calculate the breakeven at just 77 years old.
It’s interesting that some people talking terms of “total money collected”. It seems the most important factor would be whether or not the amount you received was enough to be useful to help you to live on or not.
Anyway, I guess it’s best I wait. My mortgages will be finished by the time I’m 69. And it is like 46% difference in monthly benefits. Small as they will be.