Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Another reason to retire at 62 post

I think most the crowd here agrees to start drawing your pennies at 62 while a few say hold off and work a few more years. I’ll be 54 in about 2 months so I have a while before I get to make that choice. If there’s ever a doubt though as to why start as soon as you can here’s one. A couple friends of mine (married couple) both just retired at 65. Retired 2-3 months ago. The husband has just been diagnosed with dementia and it’s staggering how fast it’s taking him down. Zero signs 3 months ago. Maybe they were there and none of us saw them, including his wife. He was a general contractor with his own business. Could build anything. Now he literally can’t change a lightbulb by himself. Very sad. Retirement wasn’t supposed to be that way for them. Life is short fellows. Enjoy it while you can.

Yep, draw it quick as you can. Between medication and the crap that’s put in food these days…

Yep! Retired at 61, and turned 62 last March. Started drawing right then. My health has been sketchy so I'm not waiting.

I think retirement is a personal choice whether it is 42, 52, 62, 72 or 82 so, that dictates when you can draw your SS however, I think you need to draw it as so as possible. The break even age is 80 give or take a year or two. Never know when the good Lord is gonna call you home.

I waited until I was at full retirement age (66 1/2) to start drawing and I worked 2 years beyond that. If I have any regret it's that I didn't start drawing at 62 knowing I was still gonna work for a while. My benefit would have been recalculated when I actually retired and the additional contributions figured in.

Don't wait until your 62. Plan ahead.

Uncle retired at 65 died the next week, one of the first guys that retired where I work died the next week! I retired at 57 and started SS at 62, I have made it to 63 now and not one regret! Man too me it's so awesome get two checks a month and only hunt or fish or do nothing!

Yup, Retirement is a number not an age.

I retired at 50 and took my ss at 62. No regrets!

I retired at 59. No regrets

My dad retired at 55. He died at 65. It was completely unexpected. I'm just glad he didn't wait until he was 62 or 65 like a lot of people do.

To me the biggest limiting factor is health insurance

I waited till my full retirement age vs. 62 because I intended to keep working until then. I didn’t want the amount of my benefit to be permanently reduced and I didn’t want to be penalized each month since I was still working. The advice I always got was, “ don’t take it early unless you need the money to live on” and I didn’t.

That's keeping my 62 YO neighbor in the game until he's 65. I'm retired military and don't need to worry about that. Therefore, I punched out at 62.

Absolutely! Health insurance is the problem. For those retiring (or retired) earlier than 65.....how are you covering it?

Your benefit wouldn’t have been permanently reduced. That is a myth. As long as you still work and continue to have SS withheld, those additional contributions will be calculated in when you fully retire. You don’t have to believe me, this information is on the SS website.

Honestly my plan is to drive a school bus for the insurance. They only make about $16,500 to start with but that’s under the SS limit. Add that to making approximately $33k in SS gives you right at $50k a year. Then, if you’ve planned well with a 401k, you can draw 3%-4% of the interest, never touch the balance and still make a little money in the investment. If you’ve planned well retire with a 401k balance of $1.5M, a 3% draw will be $45k and a 4% draw will be $60k. So, you’ll either end up making $95k-$110k a year. A friend of mine drives a bus for the insurance and says it’s easy work. A couple hours in the morning, and a couple in the afternoon. Off every holiday, spring break week, Christmas you get 2 1/2 weeks. Off all summer. He said the counties are always begging people to drive due to short staffed. Once you hit the 65 mark, you can drop the job if you want and still make $80k-$95k a year on SS and 3%-4% draw. Those are pretty conservative numbers too, in my opinion.

I did the math and waiting until 67 looked silly to me. For those that don't know, If ya qualify for SSDI, you get ya full retirement age pay NOW so jump on it if ya meet the requirements.
The only downfall to SSDI is you're limited on earnings if ya work at all. I retired at 57 and just pick-up piddlin money now My military retirement keeps my head above water.

My employer, UPS offers insurance for $400 a month for couples and if you have a child under 24 at any age I think after 55. Okay lets hear the non union guys beat me up now! My check will hit the bank on the first and SS on the 20th

I’m right there with you. That’s actually my reason. My employer pays all of my family coverage. And my wife is 5 years younger than myself and has several prescriptions she needs. So even when I start drawing I’m going to see if I can swing a deal to keep coverage a little longer