The GOLDEN Years

[WA6MHZ]

My wife just turned 60 today. Man, is she an OLD LADY!!!

Only 5 more years and she can get Social Security. She can RETIRE and devote 24/7 to litterbox maintenance and Cat feeding. But, to get much money, she has to stick it out TEN MORE YEARS!!! Then she can get some more Serious cash!

So Social Security has this gamble they want you to take. Retire early and get SOME money. Put it off, and GAMBLE that you will live that long, or can keep a job that long, and you can get ALOT more money. Almost TWICE as much!

Who is going to employ a Frail 70 year old lady? She can barely stay awake long enough to drive to work, if she can see over the dashboard. What can she do at that age? Most ladies who managed to get to that age spend their time Knitting or playing Mah Jongg.

I am looking at 12 more years of TOIL before I can get the DOUBLE Payout for SS. Or take the money and run at 7 more years. So they are SLY at SS. They bank on that you will bite the dust before they have to pay a nickel to you (which is really supposed to be a refund for paying into it for 40+ years!) It SHOULD be YOUR money, but it somehow doesn't work quite that way. You MIGHT be allowed a little of it back if you live that long. They hope you will die. Then they get to KEEP the rest.

Then there is the scare that SS will be broke by the time you are ready to collect. Most of those Youngsters working today Pay dearly each week only to know they will not see a CENT of it. WHEN will SS go belly up? How long before the pool of cash is used up.

Back in the days it was formed, most people didn't live past 60. If you lived to 70, you were REALLY OLD!!! But with modern medicine, heart transplants, and ways to keep you going longer, that means SS has to pay out maybe 40 years longer than they originally had planned for people. Lotsa people are living towards 100 these days. And they get all that SS money they are due until they reach room temperature. The longer they live, the less money there is for our kids when they retire.

So, is there anything to look forward to? Can my wife see any money back from all that she has paid in? And will I? We will most certainly be unemployable by then. Both of us will be too feeble to even work at McDonalds. We are that way today, in fact. I have a hard time staying away at work for 8 hours as it is!

[N0SYA]

no worries

the death panels will take care of questions like these

[AF6LJ]

There would be enough money had it not been stolen...


IBTL

[K8ERV]

My wife just turned 60 today.

Which way did she turn? Oh the suspense!

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

[AG3Y]

Yup, agreed, pretty political. But one of the scariest things I have seen about this whole retirement thing is that it sounds like our retirement benefits that were paid for by our companies, is going to be considered "taxable income". That is going to kick a whole bunch of us into higher "income" brackets.

"Be afraid, be very afraid!"

Also IB4TLD

73, Jim

[G0BXU]

I'm assuming the system over there works the same as over here i.e. the money YOU paid in was being spent to keep the people drawing SS then, and the money you will draw when you retire has to be paid by the taxes of the people in work in the future, there is no savings pot holding YOUR contribution for when YOU need it paid back.

So:- with less than full employment, therefore less tax income filling government coffers, and with people living much longer than they used to requiring more support into their old age - the future is looking very bleak for all up and coming claimants.

I am pleased I am now retired and not having to worry about future pension savings, I'm hoping there will be enough for the rest of my days before the s*** really hits the fan.

Sorry mods about the 'slightly' political angle of this post.

[K9STH]

Pat:

Two things:

First of all, retirement age is now 66 for full Social Security benefits, not 65.

Secondly, she can retire at age 62 with reduced benefits.

In February of this year Social Security informed me, because my 66th birthday was in February, that I was no longer disabled! I was "officially" retired! Same benefits, just coming from a different account.

Glen, K9STH

[W9JEF]

It could cost $100,000 to extend the life
of a terminal cancer patient another few weeks.
For those whose lives could be meaningfully extended,
shouldn't those who make the tough decisions
based on limited resources be called Life Panels?

[N0WYO]

Pat:

Two things:

First of all, retirement age is now 66 for full Social Security benefits, not 65.

Secondly, she can retire at age 62 with reduced benefits.

In February of this year Social Security informed me, because my 66th birthday was in February, that I was no longer disabled! I was "officially" retired! Same benefits, just coming from a different account.

Glen, K9STH

For you guys that's probably true. Anyone born after 1960, the retirement age is 67. This would include me. I really don't expect to see it though. I don't think it'll be around when I'm ready to retire.

[WB2WIK]

Pat:

Two things:

First of all, retirement age is now 66 for full Social Security benefits, not 65.

Secondly, she can retire at age 62 with reduced benefits.

In February of this year Social Security informed me, because my 66th birthday was in February, that I was no longer disabled! I was "officially" retired! Same benefits, just coming from a different account.

Glen, K9STH

Glen, congratulations in overcoming your disability. I didn't even know you had a disability.

I guess it was just "on paper," and they just re-wrote the paper, so congratulations on your retirement.