Why Social Security could make retirement suck (or rock)
What should you know about social security and how it could make retirement suck? Find out here on this episode. Then download your FREE Queer Money Kickstarter, a 9-step Guide to Kickstart Your Journey to Financial Independence.
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How Social Security could make retirement suck (or rock)
On this Queer Money®, we’re sharing how Social Security could make retirement suck (or rock). Last week, we shared Step 5 and how to estimate your monthly Social Security payments based on when you choose to file for SS at different ages. This week, we will help you understand how those estimates will affect your basic, happy, and fab retirement that we established.
In step 6 of the ‘How Gays Retire Fabulously’ series, we’ll examine how those estimates impact your basic, happy, and fabulous retirement buckets. First, evaluate your future financial situation, which affects your basic, happy, and fab retirement buckets. There are three ways to evaluate your future financial situation. One – Current Financial Needs. If you need the income at age 62 to cover essential living expenses, claiming SS early may be necessary despite the reduction. Two- Other Income Sources. If you have other income sources (retirement savings, pensions, investments, an annuity or even reverse mortgage), you may be able to delay Social Security to increase your future monthly benefits. WBP. Three – Longevity Considerations. The longer you expect to live, the more it might make sense to delay claiming benefits to maximize your monthly amount. If your family has a history of longevity, waiting until age 70 could provide a better long-term benefit.
We went over to Earnest Brewing Company, and over some beers, we talked about our situation. We discussed how the estimates we came up with last week will affect our basic, happy, and fabulous buckets. John believes he will live relatively long, considering he has a healthy family history and a healthy lifestyle. However, David has worked longer and has contributed more to SS; therefore, he would expect to get more from SS. However, the problem is his health isn’t the best. We need to weigh that factory in on how long we expect him to live and how the SS survivor benefits help or hinder our retirement strategy. Our strategy is to have David collect SS earlier than John. If you watch the YT video, you can hear our examples, including numbers. In a recent YT video of ours, Northstar PNW commented: Getting less from Social Security when taking early doesn’t mean you get less over your lifetime. Getting less each month doesn’t mean you get less over your lifetime, it depends on how long you will live. What is important is you need to calculate these types of things that will impact your SS benefits. We suggest you come up with this foundational number as well.
We encourage you to do Step 6: Calculate how Social Security will affect your basic, happy, and fab retirement. Then, let us know what you think. Please share them in the comments on YouTube, TikTok, or Spotify, or feel free to DM us on YT, Instagram, or LinkedIn. You can also Email us at [email protected].
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Previous Bonus Podcast Episodes
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Click below to listen to this bonus episode.