Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Dividend investing for retirement -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Felix who wrote (23837)	10/31/2015 6:12:56 PM
From: JimisJim	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34328

Yeah... wrt the changes in SS, some months ago I posted here that I'd paid $40 for a SS analysis and how to max out total income (over the remainder of my life) from SS and I got a very detailed report that compared 3 different scenarios... one scenario that would have generated $60,000 more total income over the next 20-25 years (the best outcome of the 3) relied on me filing at 66, collecting for a year (I found that interesting) and THEN suspending, while my wife would begin collecting spousal benefits from my SS the year I filed (65), and then I would resume collecting at 70... I was of course familiar with the file and suspend thing, but would not have thought to file at that age, collect for a year and then suspend to max out... I should also remind that my wife is not eligible for SS as she has been a teacher for 40 yrs., so our situation is not directly addressed (I think) by the changes -- I will probably re-run the analysis (the $40 was good for a year of unlimited runs/analysis/scenarios) as it is clear the changes are aimed squarely at two-income couples who paid into SS... The other disturbing aspect for me is that the rules change only apply to people born 1953 or later (that would be my wife's birth year) and/or impact people the year they turn 62, which is next year for me -- almost seems like they are picking specifically on my wife and me.... and more irritating is that there wasn't much warning that they were going to make these changes and I'd bet a lot of folks like me out there (esp. my age) have been planning their retirements around the file and suspend thing for many years -- I know I have been...

To: Steve Felix who wrote (23837)	11/2/2015 5:04:30 PM
From: Brian Sullivan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34328

Wow, that’s brazen. They took “file and suspend” out back and shot it dead. No warning at all. We figured this technique to maximize Social Security benefits would be safe at least until the next president took office and Social Security’s looming bankruptcy would be too big to ignore. Instead, it wound up in the fine print of the “zombie budget” Congress and the White House agreed on last week. So how did we get here? As we said six months ago, it started as a line item in President Obama’s 2015 budget proposal. In its own words, the budget “proposes to eliminate aggressive Social Security claiming strategies, which allow upper-income beneficiaries to manipulate the timing of collection of Social Security benefits in order to maximize delayed retirement credits.” Oh, those naughty “upper-income beneficiaries” and their “manipulations”! File and suspend works — worked — like this: Say you’re about to reach Social Security’s “full retirement age” of 66 and you’re eligible for $2,000 a month in benefits. Your spouse, meanwhile, is due to collect $700 a month in benefits. Instead of following this path, you file and suspend — forgoing your own benefits until as late as age 70 while your spouse files to collect spousal benefits. http://dailyreckoning.com/social-securitys-stealth-default/