On Sunday, November 13, 2016 at 3:22:45 PM UTC-5, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> Cindy Hamilton wrote:
> >Gary wrote:
> >> Cindy Hamilton wrote:
> >> >
> >> > I'm not 62 yet, so the jury's still out. BTW, I will be 66.5 before
> >> > I can qualify for Social Security.
> >>
> >> Cindy, just for your knowledge, every american can start getting Social
> >> Security at age 62 (as it stands now). It's the full retirement that
> >> goes by age. You must be 56-57 right now if you can't get full
> >> retirement until your age of 66.5.
> >
> >I'm 59. ssa.gov told me 66.5. I plan to retire some time between
> >67 and 70. I'm in no hurry, since I sit at a desk all day. The
> >tricky part will be staying useful as a programmer.
>
> For you the tricky part is to live ten more years... sitting behind a
> desk all day shortens one's life expectancy.

Perhaps. My grandmother made it to 92, and my mother--who sat
behind a desk from high school until she was my age--is going
strong at 82.

> Anyway when to retire
> has little to do with SS benefits, which was never intended as enough
> to live on. Much more important are one's pension, investments, and
> outstanding debt.

No pension. I've been saving like mad for years, but like
everybody I'm afraid I'll outlive my savings. I'll have
no outstanding debt a year from now when my mortgage is paid.

> If you work until age 70 you'd have to live to over
> 85 to break even on the money you could have collected from SS since
> age 65.

Which is quite likely, given my genetics.

Cindy Hamilton