Ginger Williams

Comments:

• If you really want to understand the Social Security formula, download the detailed calculator from their site and run scenarios. It’s clunky, but seeing just how working more years at various salaries affected my benefits was educational. For me, replacing two low earning years was worthwhile, but otherwise additional years didn’t make much difference because my income is well above the second bend point and I had 35 years.

  Post: How might early retirement at say age 55 affect your FRA SS benefits?

  Link to comment from September 28, 2024

• The Flint Hills region, including the Konza Prairie in Kansas. If you can go on a windy day with lots of sun and scattered clouds, that’s ideal, because you can pull off at one of the roadside overlooks and watch the interplay of light and shadow on the plains. But there’s a quiet beauty year round, wonderful for slow drives and long walks.

  Post: First Place by Jonathan Clements

  Link to comment from September 7, 2024

• Stocks go up, stocks go down, stocks spin around. This is why I keep a cash cushion.

  Post: Staying the Course by Jonathan Clements

  Link to comment from August 6, 2024

• In 2018, I decided to never again fly coach if I’d be cramped in the seat for more than two hours. I drive when possible, but first class is worth the cost on my flights. It’s nice to arrive without cramped legs and bruised knees and in a terrible mood. Coach seats are tough for tall people even when the plane isn’t packed.

  Post: A Case for First Class by Dan Smith

  Link to comment from July 24, 2024

• I’m 61 and single with no children. My 403b retirement account is 80% invested in a total stock market fund, 10% in international equities, and 10% in a TIPS fund. That seems risky for someone planning to retire in 2-4 years, but I’m planning based on other assets. I have 18 months living expenses in T-Bills and T-Notes, with staggered maturity dates. At 65, I’ll have a pension that will cover bare minimum living expenses, but with no COLA. I plan to claim Social Security between 67 & 70, which will double my income. Those assets let me take more risk with retirement account.

  Post: Perils of market downturns early in retirement 

  Link to comment from July 21, 2024

• The second link I provided above is to the option for clergy to opt out of self-employment tax.

  Post: Three Significant Moments

  Link to comment from July 21, 2024

• Wayne may not have paid into Social Security as a minister. Nonprofit organizations, like state governments, are allowed to opt out of Social Security under certain conditions, see https://www.ssa.gov/help/iClaim_nonCov1.html. Clergy are allowed to opt out under certain conditions, see https://www-origin.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.11/handbook-1131.html. Members of certain religious groups are allowed to opt out, see https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.11/handbook-1128.html I once interviewed for a job where the recruiter cited their exemption from Social Security and Medicare tax as a great benefit that justified their significantly below market salaries. I asked how that would affect my future SS benefits, and was assured that it wouldn’t. After declining the job, I spent some time exploring exemptions. Not contributing would have affected my future SS benefits.

  Post: Three Significant Moments

  Link to comment from July 20, 2024

• “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”

  Post: What’s your favorite financial quote?

  Link to comment from July 15, 2024

• Stylish shoes with inadequate support. Spend enough to get both style and support, or choose different styles. Back orchestra seats with obstructed view to live theatre. You’ll enjoy the show more from the balcony than trying to peer around the obstruction, so save a few dollars. And, when you can afford better seats, they are worth every penny you spend. I occasionally hear that I spend too much on shoes and theatre, since that means I can’t eat at high end restaurants weekly. But I don’t value those high end restaurants as much as I do pain-free feet and legs or a really good show.

  Post: What do other people spend too much money on?

  Link to comment from April 21, 2024

• Good article, as usual. I often hear that both whole life and annuities are bad. But as you note about whole life, that’s not always true. A friend recently bought a fully paid up whole life policy. His goal is to ensure that his companion receives a modest sum. Neither LTC costs nor greedy relatives can claim that money .

  Post: Almost True

  Link to comment from April 14, 2024