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Despite what you might expect from the title, this is not an article about volunteer work. Rather, it’s a perspective on my current situation as a so-called paid employee. You see, tomorrow I turn 62. My Social Security benefits, which until now have been only a theoretical future payout, are now fully accessible to me with a few clicks of a mouse. Once I elect to take my Social Security benefit, my wife will be eligible to begin receiving hers as well. Because much of her career was spent working for the federal government in a position exempt from Social Security, she’s only eligible to receive a spousal benefit.
As I’ve mentioned before, when I input our specific personal information to Mike Piper’s Open Social Security calculator, the results point me to taking my benefit early, well before I turn 63. For us, waiting until I turn 70 or even 67 would be somewhat foolish, based solely on that model.
There seems to be little downside risk to me starting Social Security early. The total benefit my wife and I could be receiving is roughly equivalent to what I expect to earn this year from my part-time job. Essentially, rather than working 15-20 hours a week, I could be working zero hours a week and bringing home the same amount of money. I might as well be working for free.
What should I do? For now, I’m not changing anything. I really receive satisfaction from my job, as I’ve written about previously. It feels more like a well-paid hobby. As long as I have that sense, it will be hard to give it up completely. Another option would be to take Social Security but reduce my hours so I could stay under the Social Security earnings limit, currently $22,320. That could work, but then I wouldn’t be able to be as involved in certain projects where I feel I have a key role.
One other data point: my pension and our combined Social Security benefits will easily cover our monthly expenses, which are relatively modest given that our house is paid off.
Based on what you’ve read, what would you do if you were in my shoes?
Be realistic in your evaluation of your and your wife’s longevity expectations as delayed filing has a longer break even point assuming a reasonable rate of return than many people think
Sounds like you’re saying that if one expects (along with spouse) average longevity, the bias probably should be toward taking SS earlier rather later.
Unless I am mistaken don’t you get back any reduced SS for working at some point after you fully retire or reach FRA?
Dick, see my comment to David Lancaster below.
I started receiving Social Security at 64. It was a mistake. I should have waited to age 70. I did not need the money. I will be age 85 in October. So if you can wait until 70, it will be better to wait.