for those nearing retirement age

[Mulan]

For any nurses nearing retirement age, are you planning on drawing SS early at age 62, or waiting until the full retirement age (66,67)?

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

I don't plan to retire from FT work until well past 66; will probably continue to work at something PT for many years to come after that.

When the time comes I'll do a benefits-cost analysis to see when it'll be best to claim SS. Depending on tax ramifications, might be better to claim while still working and just banking the excess.

[papawjohn]

Well, as you can tell I've had to think about this quite alot lately. I already belong to Medicare. I pay a lot of attention to politics (comment regularly as JohnMcC if anyone reads the same blogs I do) and worried extravagantly about the economy during the recent debt-ceiling debacle.

I take this seriously, in other words. And I'll assume this is a serious question.

I'm going to take the SocSecurity at the earliest moment I'm eligible for full-benefit retirement. There are two reasons I made that decision:

First, every plan to decrease SocSecurity benefits exempts already-retired people from the cuts. The fastest growing demographic in the US is us old folks; we are the 'Boomers' after all who re-shaped society as we moved thru the life-cycle. The political party most interested in 'cutting entitlements' gets a very large (and growing) share of their votes from older voters. Older people vote in larger numbers than any other demographic. So I do not fear politicians will do away with the benefits of already-retireds; since I'll need the SocSecurity eventually -- I should get it while the getting is good.

Second, retiring at 'full retirement age' means I can earn roughly $34,000/yr above the SocSecurity check. If I earn more than that, my SocSecurity earnings are taxed in order to 'take-back' $1 out of $3. (If that seems odd, remember that SocSecurity was a Depression-era program and encouraged people to retire so that younger people could move up into those jobs.) On the other hand, taking early retirement (age 62 - to - 66 @ present) means the IRS takes that $1 of $3 on everything above $12,000. In otherwords, I can earn $22,000 more by waiting til age 66.

My annual earnings will be essentially unchanged, but I can work only 6months/year. Sweet!! I'll finally get to hike the whole Appalachian Trail. Or sail around the Bahamas for an entire season. Or I can work 3 X 12hr shifts each pay-period and play in my workshop that much more!!!

What's not to like?

PapawJohn