My ‘advice and recommendation’ flies in the face of ‘conventional wisdom’ on when to take SS benefits.
It’s simple. Start taking SS benefits as soon as you are eligible, and no longer working. Simple.
Why???
Lots of reasons.
1) Your FERS Fed retirement has always been based on the ‘3-legged stool’ approach. Why not follow that plan?
2) If you die before taking SS, you lose it. Yes, there are some death benefits, but mostly they are minimal.
3) It will take you another 12-15 years to just break even from an earlier start to distribution, even though it is ‘less’ per month than a later draw. (see #2). Try it out yourself. Add up the yearly payout in the 2 scenarios, and see how long it takes to break even.
4) Don’t trust Congress! They are continually looking for $$. Either by limiting SS or by reducing the Fed FERS Retirement program.
5) ‘Bird in the hand...’. Even if you don’t really NEED it yet, if you control it, you will have a much better chance of getting a better return on it. (See also #4)
6) If you go back to work, you can suspend payments (or Not). Anyway, the way SS is set up, you will receive the same amount of funds no matter when you start taking it, as long as you live to your mortality table date (approx 85). This affects several of the previous points!
7) Enjoy your $$ while you are still ‘young’. Really, what are you waiting for?
Me and my wife followed our own advice on this. She retired and started taking SS at 62. I retired and started taking SS at 65.
AND, some of the same points guided me in deciding to switch to FERS from CSRS back in 1984. I was told that only 400 people nationwide made that switch. Biggest reason? If the government wants you to do it, it probably favors THEM. So am I happy I switched, looking back? YES!! Sure I would have gotten a larger pension had I stayed in CSRS. But then, I wouldn’t have over $1MM in the bank. So, a lot of the same points do, in fact, apply.
By the way, I am NOT a Financial person. Only a retired Federal Civilian Engineer. Good luck on your decisions!
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