Retirees whatcha living on?..........

[kodiakisland]

If I remember correctly the break even to make up for what you'd receive taking SS at 62 vs 67 was like mid 70's. How confident is anyone that they will make it to 75? Odds are around 50%, I plan on retiring and drawing at 62. Somebody on here says that I'll probably run out of health before money and I plan on using at least some of the governments money in my retirement, lord knows I've paid in an awful lot.

Yeah, waiting to collect more money is like buying a new car to save money on better gas mileage. Over long enough time, it does work out but requires an initial investment in time or money.

For me the difference in collecting at 62 vs 67 is $1200/month. At 67 I would have already collected $170K. It takes a while to break even at $1.2K/month.

Makes sense if you know you will run out of savings or plan on living past 80. At 53 I'm kinda surprised I'm still around.


One thing that really interests me is the percent of bring home pay from working to retirement and not just the gross. I'm trying to get a good idea of what that will look like. Lower tax bracket, no FICA, no longer contributing to retirement. Probably increase in health insurance rates? Not sure about life insurance. Won't need it, but why not? Other new expenses I don't know about?

 

[Keep on]

One thing that really interests me is the percent of bring home pay from working to retirement and not just the gross. I'm trying to get a good idea of what that will look like. Lower tax bracket, no FICA, no longer contributing to retirement. Probably increase in health insurance rates? Not sure about life insurance. Won't need it, but why not? Other new expenses I don't know about?

Agreed, everyone talks about health insurance cost, but have to remember there's a lot of stuff not coming out of your income.
In PA there is no state or local income tax on SS, pension or 401k, no FICA, no 401k savings coming out anymore.
Figure a 20% raise minimum on the same income level you were earning pre retirement.
I also figure on spending more in my early years of retirement for travel and once in a lifetime hunts. My parents were lucky enough to both retire at 62, did a lot of travel while they had the energy and health. Now in their mid 80's they are slowing down considerably. There just isn't the energy or desire to get out and do big trips.
Make it count while you have the health and energy. Tomorrow is guaranteed to no one.