Feeling old. I just applied for Social Security to start in September.

[Aloha Hoosier]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

 

[outside shooter]

I'm aiming for the nice round date of January 1, 2030.

New decade, new plan.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

I am a couple of months ahead of you. I am now 44 days into the "this stage generally takes 30 days" approval process. In the last 18 months, I had three friends die in the 62-64 range and decided I didn't want to risk 70. Plus, I have the cash to pay off the house, and living with no mortgage makes it very possible to accept a little less Social Security.

The application was very easy. No complaints about it. Next month, I'll be working with Medicare, and we'll see how that goes.

I had a buddy I used to play basketball, tennis, and softball with. He would have been turning 65 when I turned 35 (he played softball until he was 89). He was complaining that night that at tennis that he turned 65 that he had to go to apply for Medicare that day, "that's for old people." He's still going at 95. I don't see him very often at all any more.

 

[mcmurtry66]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

Big time news with your wife 🔥

 

[Marvin the Martian]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

And very happy for you and your wife, it is great news!

 

[UncleMark]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

I took it at 66 for the full amount, which worked out well -- that was when I ran out of gas.

 

[76-1]

Congrats on your wife's prognosis!

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Big time news with your wife 🔥

Thanks. She put off taking out the port to visit with our daughter in Flagstaff. She'll get that out in a few days, and she's done until her six-month checkup. While in Flagstaff she picked out a retirement townhouse in a golf community and I flew out to look at it and a few others. I ended up agreeing that it was the best one so we're in the process of buying it. After that's settled and we sell the house here I'll be buying another house in Tucson for a winter abode. Tucson houses cost much less than Flagstaff properties, and I only need a small one. I plan to pay cash for that one. Flagstaff weather is great for about half the year with great 70s and 80s temperatures, but they get an average of 100 inches of snow in the winter and I'm not doing that! The place in Tucson will be my escape from the winter and allows for year-round golf. Spent the day getting all the funding aligned for the Flagstaff house and now I'm going to go practice some golf.

 

[mcmurtry66]

Thanks. She put off taking out the port to visit with our daughter in Flagstaff. She'll get that out in a few days, and she's done until her six-month checkup. While in Flagstaff she picked out a retirement townhouse in a golf community and I flew out to look at it and a few others. I ended up agreeing that it was the best one so we're in the process of buying it. After that's settled and we sell the house here I'll be buying another house in Tucson for a winter abode. Tucson houses cost much less than Flagstaff properties, and I only need a small one. I plan to pay cash for that one. Flagstaff weather is great for about half the year with great 70s and 80s temperatures, but they get an average of 100 inches of snow in the winter and I'm not doing that! The place in Tucson will be my escape from the winter and allows for year-round golf. Spent the day getting all the funding aligned for the Flagstaff house and now I'm going to go practice some golf.

Perfect set up!! My ex wife’s mom got diagnosed with breast cancer last week. Up here at Wash u now.

 

[VanPastorMan]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

Praise the Lord your wife has many more days ahead of her. I don't have much in way of savings. We didn't make a lot and raised four kids. I would like to pastor at least till 70 if possible.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Perfect set up!! My ex wife’s mom got diagnosed with breast cancer last week. Up here at Wash u now.

Best wishes for your ex wife’s mom!

 

[Indyhorn]

I’ll take it at 62.5 to avoid the default coming. Congress will up the retirement age and implement means testing at some point soon. When federal debt interest is our second or third highest annual payment it’s an issue! Hey thanks Trickle Down you didn’t work in 1981, 2001, 2017….will not work in 2025….. all you selfish folks care not one whit about the next generation. Or you’d vote for fiscal responsibility.

 

[76-1]

Perfect set up!! My ex wife’s mom got diagnosed with breast cancer last week. Up here at Wash u now.

Getting old sucks... Seems like you're either in the hospital or visiting a friend or loved one...

All the Best to your former mother in law...

Counting Alohas wife I now know of 4 people who survived it and one that didn't... Those are good odds...

 

[mcmurtry66]

Getting old sucks... Seems like you're either in the hospital or visiting a friend or loved one...

All the Best to your former mother in law...

Counting Alohas wife I now know of 4 people who survived it and one that didn't... Those are good odds...

The amount of people I know with cancer is frightening including my pop

 

[76-1]

The amount of people I know with cancer is frightening including my pop

Has to be environmental... I've had it twice... In remission at the moment and praying to remain so...

 

[mcmurtry66]

Has to be environmental... I've had it twice... In remission at the moment and praying to remain so...

🙏🙏

 

[UncleMark]

Has to be environmental... I've had it twice... In remission at the moment and praying to remain so...

Everyone gets cancer if they live long enough.

 

[76-1]

Everyone gets cancer if they live long enough.

Actually, my father never had it and he lived a long full life...

Now if you preface that with "born after 1950" that may well be true...

 

[outside shooter]

There surely are more cancer cases, with increases in population, better detection, and with life span increasing, but between 2000 and 2021, the incidence rate — or the rate of new cancer cases per 100,000 people — declined by 5.7%, while the annual mortality rate fell by 27.5%.

There are clear disparities in cancer rates across different population demographics. As of 2022, Black and Indigenous Americans are more likely than any other racial demographic to die from cancers. But that is a forbidden topic of discussion under the current fascist regime.

US cancer rates and trends: how have cancer rates and mortality changed over time? | USAFacts

Between 2000 and 2021, the cancer incidence rate per 100,000 people fell by 5.7%, while the mortality rate dropped by 27.5%.

usafacts.org

 

[CO. Hoosier]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

I’ve always said up front money is the best money. As long as your are at full benefit age, take the dough. I don’t see any sense in deferring payments to get a few more bucks at 70. Then you gotta live longer to make up for the deferred payments.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

I’ve always said up front money is the best money. As long as your are at full benefit age, take the dough. I don’t see any sense in deferring payments to get a few more bucks at 70. Then you gotta live longer to make up for the deferred payments.

I’m several years from 70. Im in no hurry for that milestone.

 

[UncleMark]

Actually, my father never had it and he lived a long full life...

Now if you preface that with "born after 1950" that may well be true...

It's a simple matter of exposure and probabilities. The longer you live, the more likely you're going to end up with some cells somewhere mutating and developing into cancer, for whatever reason.

 

[outside shooter]

My "full" amount is at 67, but at least according the the current graph at ssa.gov, I'll get a bump of a couple hundred bucks at 67 and 4 months over what I'd get at 67 on my birthday.

 

[outside shooter]

The longer you live, the more likely you're going to end up with some cells somewhere mutating and developing into cancer, for whatever reason.

It's also a decline in older people's DNA mistake repair machinery.

During your whole life you'll have cells mutating, some in ways to allow faster growth/ cancer, but you also have ways to fix the mistakes long before you get a tumor. But then your mistake-fixing DNA surveillance mechanisms get a little wonky and aren't as good at doing their job.

 

[dbmhoosier]

Everyone gets cancer if they live long enough.

Hold old is long enough? My grandma made it to triple digits and never had cancer.

 

[UncleMark]

Hold old is long enough? My grandma made it to triple digits and never had cancer.

In her case, not long enough.

Again, law of averages and probabilities. Of course there are outliers. My wife had cancer in her 20s.

 

[ribbont]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

Great news on your wife!

 

[ribbont]

I am a couple of months ahead of you. I am now 44 days into the "this stage generally takes 30 days" approval process. In the last 18 months, I had three friends die in the 62-64 range and decided I didn't want to risk 70. Plus, I have the cash to pay off the house, and living with no mortgage makes it very possible to accept a little less Social Security.

The application was very easy. No complaints about it. Next month, I'll be working with Medicare, and we'll see how that goes.

I had a buddy I used to play basketball, tennis, and softball with. He would have been turning 65 when I turned 35 (he played softball until he was 89). He was complaining that night that at tennis that he turned 65 that he had to go to apply for Medicare that day, "that's for old people." He's still going at 95. I don't see him very often at all any more.

I completely understand taking now when you're trying to plan around a Ponzi scheme like SS. Best of luck in retirement (my assumption).

 

[Marvin the Martian]

I completely understand taking now when you're trying to plan around a Ponzi scheme like SS. Best of luck in retirement (my assumption).

Sorry, I am talking Social Security and not Bitcoin ponzi.

 

[ribbont]

Sorry, I am talking Social Security and not Bitcoin ponzi.

Yeah, I know. SS is, by definition, a Ponzi scheme. I said nothing about bitcoin. Stay on topic.

 

[Joe_Hoopsier]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

GOT DAMN if there was ever a case to be made for means testing for SS benefits ! ! !
Anyone stupid enough to have 3 mortgages at your age, and be approved for them.. And one in Flaggstaff of all god forsaken places!

But, out side of that.. You (well, we actually) paid into that ponzy scheme, so get every damn thing you can before the rest of us that's paid in, can't.

Seriously, congrats dude !!! And I am very very happy that the wife is on the good side of that terrible diagnosis! Extremely happy. God knows she must be a saint !

 

[StollCpaGoat]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

Three mortgages at age 62 is crazy!

@Aloha Hoosier seriously, WTF with 3 mortgages? I’d have never guessed poor financial planning from you.

 

[NWfor3]

I'm taking it early, but I don't think it's worth waiting a few more years to get the "full" benefit. My wife will wait until 70 and get half of what I'd be getting at 70, which will be more than her full benefit. Luckily, it appears that she's beaten breast cancer and will live many more years to come.

I got three mortgages to pay so I need a little more cash flow.

By the way, doing the application online is pretty easy.

My wife and I also just applied for SS. I want to get what I can while it’s available.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Three mortgages at age 62 is crazy!

@Aloha Hoosier seriously, WTF with 3 mortgages? I’d have never guessed poor financial planning from you.

I'll only have three mortgages for a month or two if all goes well. The house here is at 2% mortgage rate and a 15-year loan, and I have had it for over 13 years, so I don't owe much and it's worth about $150K more than when I bought it. Selling it will more than cover everything we're spending. The other house I own now is also in Flagstaff and my daughter and her two roommates rent it. They don't cover the entire mortgage, but it only costs me a few hundred to cover what their rent doesn't. Daughter gets a discount as the property manager and she's doing a great job at that. I also have occasional part-time work at a very good rate (week or two here and there - travel and expenses paid for as well) with a contractor. No worries here even without the part-time gig which I only plan to do for a year or two anyway. All is well.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

Yeah, I know. SS is, by definition, a Ponzi scheme. I said nothing about bitcoin. Stay on topic.

Do a little research. Look at senior poverty rates before Social Security and after then come back and give us a report.

 

[UncleMark]

Do a little research. Look at senior poverty rates before Social Security and after then come back and give us a report.

People like to call SS a Ponzi scheme, and it is to some degree, but in actuality it's a generational transfer of wealth, nothing more.

 

[StollCpaGoat]

I'll only have three mortgages for a month or two if all goes well. The house here is at 2% mortgage rate and a 15-year loan, and I have had it for over 13 years, so I don't owe much and it's worth about $150K more than when I bought it. Selling it will more than cover everything we're spending. The other house I own now is also in Flagstaff and my daughter and her two roommates rent it. They don't cover the entire mortgage, but it only costs me a few hundred to cover what their rent doesn't. Daughter gets a discount as the property manager and she's doing a great job at that. I also have occasional part-time work at a very good rate (week or two here and there - travel and expenses paid for as well) with a contractor. No worries here even without the part-time gig which I only plan to do for a year or two anyway. All is well.

My faith in you is restored.

 

[ribbont]

Do a little research. Look at senior poverty rates before Social Security and after then come back and give us a report.

Don't need to. We can achieve better results by transitioning SS to an ownership program instead of a Ponzi scheme.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Don't need to. We can achieve better results by transitioning SS to an ownership program instead of a Ponzi scheme.

TSP for all is the answer.

 

[ribbont]

TSP for all is the answer.

Something like that. Maybe add a self directed option. Eliminate the earnings cap on new workers. Look to start immediately for workers under 30 with a % of their income going towards the traditional Ponzi scheme SS and rest to ownership SS. Phase out over X # of years to get to 100% ownership. Have a % of earnings feed into the system to cover disability and non-earners. Give stay at home parents a credit towards their account until youngest child is 18. Spitballing here.