Filed for Social Security

So happy for you. I filed for Social Security when I turned 63. I didn't want to draw from my investments, which could make much more than if I had waited to draw from Social Security at 70. Now I'm just waiting for 65 when I can access Medicare. Never thought I would actually look forward to getting older!
 
I took mine at 65 since I had to much income coming in from doing things I like to do ….now that i am hitting 70 we are further a head by Me filing early then we would have been delaying .

we were fronting ourselves the ss we were not getting and spending down money that could be invested if we had the ss .plus my wife couldn’t get a 4500 dollar a year spousal benefit until I filed .

so filing earlier for us was well worth doing vs delaying ..
 
hollydolly said:
This is where it gets confusing for us Non Americans on the forum. Filing for Social Security in the UK is not a good thing..( which it clearly seems to be in the USA).. here, it means signing for unemployment benefit.
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It gets confusing here too for us Americans …

lots of ladies here went to the UK and were disappointed to find out Big Ben was only a clock
 
In America, Social Security is NOT about unemployment benefits.

Social Security is something you pay into while you work (actually, they just take it out of your earnings). When you reach a certain age, you can "file" for SS and get a monthly check or direct deposit into your bank account. What you get monthly is based on how much you paid in, how early you filed, and other parameters.

Medicare is also something (that I believe) you pay into when you're working (but someone correct me if I'm wrong). Many medical establishments will take Medicare instead of your paying cash or having other insurance (that you pay for) for their services. Or Medicare will slash the doctor/hospital bill, pay most of what's left, and you'll get a very tiny bill, if anything at all.

In my opinion, it's quite a good thing. Wasn't crazy about the payments while I was working, but it's sure great now.

ADDED: Not all medical services take Medicare — for instance, dental and eye issues are not covered.
 
I know it's Not about unemployment in the USA but it's confusing for us in the UK when we hear someone is claiming it there because it's unemployment benefits here...

What you're referring to as Social security, is called a Private Pension here
 
hollydolly said:
Private pension is something we pay into ourselves from our salaries..often topped up by our employers.. State pensions are paid by the government on retirement
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Maybe similar, we have to pay into Social Security and our employers also contribute. Upon retirement our Social Security is based on how much and how long we paid in, but it is paid by the government.
 
Alligatorob said:
Maybe similar, we have to pay into Social Security and our employers also contribute. Upon retirement our Social Security is based on how much and how long we paid in, but it is paid by the government.
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yes our state pensions are dependant on how long and how much has been paid in....most people have to have a private pension to top up their state pension otherwise it woould be very difficult to survive on it alone..
 
Here’s my 2 cents worth.
In Canada.....we have one called Canada Pension Plan.....amounts are deducted from pay checks, employer matches.....can be drawn out as early as 60.
What you call Social Security.....we call Old Age Pension.....government pays full amount, we don’t contribute to it......collected at 65.....I believe it’s the same amount, for the rich or poor.
 
MickaC said:
Here’s my 2 cents worth.
In Canada.....we have one called Canada Pension Plan.....amounts are deducted from pay checks, employer matches.....can be drawn out as early as 60.
What you call Social Security.....we call Old Age Pension.....government pays full amount, we don’t contribute to it......collected at 65.....I believe it’s the same amount, for the rich or poor.
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who are you talking to..me or @Alligatorob ?

if me.. then our Private pensions can be taken at 55, and is paid in to a private pension pot bu ys and topped up by some employers ( not all) ... ...The state pension ( also used to be called Old age pension here too).. is what we pay into in deuctions from our salaries all our working lives, as long as we earn over approx £11,000 PA... .. and is paid back to us at a much tinier amount.. by the state when we retire...
 
hollydolly said:
who are you talking to..me or @Alligatorob ?

if me.. then our Private pensions can be taken at 55, and is paid in to a private pension pot bu ys and topped up by some employers ( not all) ... ...The state pension ( also used to be called Old age pension here too).. is what we pay into in deuctions from our salaries all our working lives, as long as we earn over approx £11,000 PA... .. and is paid back to us at a much tinier amount.. by the state when we retire...
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Wasn’t talking to anyone in particular......just posting.
 
MickaC said:
Here’s my 2 cents worth.
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That is interesting, I guess most countries have some form of government associated pensions.

Our Social Security is in theory paid for by the employee and employer contributions, they are supposed to go into a kind of trust fund that then pays our pensions when we retire. However the government has always spent the Social Security contributions as they come in and then pay for the pensions as they arise. No real "fund".

Our payments are a function of how much we contribute, so people who made more money get more money. However it is capped and the wealthy get about the same as the upper middle class. Currently the maximum payment is a bit over $4,000/month, that is for the higher earners who wait to retire at age 70. You can begin collecting at age 63, but get less.

The other thing we have is the ability to contribute some earnings pretax to savings that is then taxed as withdrawn after retirement, usually. There are a number of complicated programs, 401k is the most famous. This can be significant, for some folks 25% or more of income can be set aside, 10% to 15% is more typical. In my case I will make more from this in retirement than Social Security. The only role the government plays is regulation, no contributions.

Some private companies and government employers also have pension plans. These are however getting fewer and fewer. I worked for a company years ago, for just 10 years, at age 55 I began collecting a $685/month pension from them. That is what I call a private pension. Nice, but for me not retirement money.
 
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Alligatorob said:
Currently the maximum payment is a bit over $4,000/month, that is for the higher earners who wait to retire at age 70. You can begin collecting at age 63, but get less.
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Excellent explanation. I'll add that spousal benefits are a maximum of half of the larger earner's benefits (depending on when both start drawing SS). Of course each spouse can also collect based on their own earnings records.

EDITED TO CLARIFY the bolded statement: Spouses can collect against their own earnings OR their partners, not both.

When talking with my Canadian sister about retirement strategies she was quite shocked at how much DH & I were going to get from SS.
 
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I signed up for SS as soon as I became eligible, and my wife signed up for spousal benefits when she became eligible....after all, no one knows how long they will live. When I reviewed how much I paid in when I was working vs, what we've received, we have received at least 4, and rapidly approaching 5 times what I paid in SS taxes. I wish some of my other "investments" were doing equally well.
 
StarSong said:
Excellent explanation. I'll add that spousal benefits are a maximum of half of the larger earner's benefits (depending on when both start drawing SS). Of course each spouse can also collect based on their own earnings records.

When talking with my Canadian sister about retirement strategies she was quite shocked at how much DH & I were going to get from SS.
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wow.. , I'm stunned too... I wish it was the same here
 
I seem to be the lone wolf here in that we're delaying DH's filing against his own earnings record until he turns 70. I filed against my earnings at 65 and he started drawing spousal benefits against mine when he turned 66.

With all four of our parents living into their 90s, it's a pretty good bet that at least one of us will be grateful for his increased benefits down the road.
 
Alligatorob said:
Yes, and that is what we did. My wife starter hers a while back, and I am getting half of it, even though still working. I will wait until 70 to start mine. I think they have closed this loophole though, younger folks don't get as good a deal.
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Exactly the strategy DH and I are using. You're correct, it's no longer available. We got in just under the wire...
 
Remy said:
Was it easy or complicated? I will qualify later this year but don't know when I'll actually file for it.
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Hi Remy. It was very easy. I had already set up an account on the SS website so I was able to file through there.
 

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