From the Motley Fool:
… According to line 20a of the Bidens' 2008 Form 1040, $6,534 in Social Security benefits were recognized. The reason 2008 is so important is because it marked the year Joe Biden turned 66 (the president's birthday is Nov. 20, 1942). In other words, it was the year Joe Biden reached his full retirement age [FRA], which entitled him to 100% of his retired worker benefit. …
He would have gotten a higher monthly amount if he had waited to age 70.
5 comments:
He probably didn't think he'd live to 80.
Imagine that. A President old enough to reach the break-even point while still in office.
Oops, we're not supposed to calculate those for people anymore.....
I still calculate it and provide that information to the folks I interview. It is utterly ridiculous that employees are trained to just spit out numbers and say "pick one." Most Americans have a very poor grasp on personal finance. What I have found is that most claimants are under the impression that "bigger is better" and will wait as long as possible to file, even if they are in poor health. Once I explain "oh, it will take you over a decade receiving the higher rate to recoup what you turned away earlier" many change their minds and pick the earlier filing month.
I found that the vast majority of those who waited until age 70 to file for retirement were upper middle class who didn't need SSA at FRA and really not at 70 either some of the time.
One thing to consider for claimants isn't only their own life expectancy but if married, and their spouse has a lower MBA, whether their surviving spouse may do better with the age 70 amount. So I'd ask how long each spouse how long they think they'll live.
The worst choices regarding filing at 70 or not were made by widows that took widows benefits early and may be eligible for $50 more at FRA. They'd sometimes take that $50 versus waiting a few years for maybe $400 or $500 more. The breakeven on those choices is sometimes before age 71. But the claimants sometimes made very questionable choices no matter how much information and advice they were given.
Yeah of course I still do them. I even made a spreadsheet where you could plug in the numbers and it did the math for you (for the benefit of my coworkers, some of whom I wouldn't trust with the math).
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