A PhD friend of mine who is 65 told me I should start drawing social security when I hit 62 instead of waiting. He says the present worth calculations will show this is better. I am qualified to draw the maximum amounts based on my past payments to the system. I do not have any other savings, and plan to continue working anyway as long as I can. Should I take his advice?
2006-12-09 22:44:19 · 3 answers · asked by ras d 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
I can think of three questions....
1) How is your health and your parents' health history? If you expect to live past 84 then waiting is better from a total worth calculation.
2) How much will you earn while working? Will that require that part of your SS will need to be taxed? If so, waiting will be better.
3) Do you expect to have other income in the future from an inheritance, for example? If not, then you probably want to maximize your SS income by waiting until age 65 or latter.
Finally - why have you not saved anything in 62 years? Do you have an event that drained your savings in the last few years (health emergency, etc) or have you just been a poor saver? If you are a poor saver then I would recommend against taking the SS now with the intent to save it. It will just be too easy to spend the additional income "just this one time" but find that you have saved very little after 3 years.....
2006-12-10 15:01:06 · answer #1 · answered by Bob 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are still working, I would recommend taking the SS at age 62 and investing it directly (all of it) into an investment. At your age you could think of getting a balanced fund(half stocks half bonds). If you earn over 6.5% return on your money, then it is better to take the money while your 62.
If you have NO savings at your age then you really need to get on that. There's no time to waste. You should save all your social security and 25% to 25% of your income. This may sound drastic but your saving is way behind. If you have a medical emergency and need to stop working, you could be in big trouble.
Good luck!
2006-12-10 00:08:56 · answer #2 · answered by MR MONEY 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes get it as fast as you can because what good is it if you wait until 65 and you die at 64.get it now.who knows by that time they may raise it up to 68 before you can receive benefits get it now now now
2006-12-09 22:56:50 · answer #3 · answered by lovj 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋