There was a great article by the Motley Fool that asked if you were willing to wait till you were 70 to retire to reap significant increases in your social security benefits. Really great points of consideration were raised, but at the end of the day it seems like most people don't care and just go on it at 62. I know going forward that age increases depending on your birth year, but the thought occurred to me maybe people are just doing this because they truly think that social security will not last. I can't say I blame them because it might not last, it seems apparent to me anyone that paid in would be motivated to get whatever they could out of it before it's done. I don't know, I just have come to accept I may have to always work. What about you? What age would you like to be able to get your social security benefits?
The system here in Europe is a bit different, social security is very different concept. What you refer to as social security is what we call retirement. Social security is a much larger thing here and includes unemployment benefits, housing aid, medical care, lots of programs intended to give free things such as gym memberships, food, school to the poor etc. Of course it varies a little from one country to the next. But I'm not too certain that our system in here will last too long. That is why I got into investing in the first place, to be able to live on dividend income when I get older.
I'm 45 and don't expect it to be around in 15-20 years and don't plan my life around it by any means. If I decide to quit working at 60 or whatever, I should be very well set up. Anything extra I may get from big brother is just icing on the cake.
For some time now, I have been working with the notion that it is not a factor in the equation with respect to my retirement goals. I hope I get something after paying into that monstrosity since I started working in my adolescence. But as it is, the odds are Social(ist) Security could be in dire straights by then or totally gone Even if it is still around and paying benefits, said benefits are pretty paltry anyway. So, no, it isn't something I care about. I plan on retiring my 60s and work toward that with our household's investments.
I'm only 20 now so retirement is something so incredibly far off, but I still think that that's what IRAs and retirement funds are for so...Yeah? I may not wait til 70 but I doubt I'd touch it until I'm nearing retirement at least.
Many people in America, if you have not noticed, have not been able to retire because of where the economy is at currently. The government has been drawing out of social security and I have heard horror stories about people who have had their retirement stripped away from them.
The younger you start, the better off you'll be. If you can earn enough money consistently while you're young and healthy to max out your retirement savings each year, and live a reasonably frugal lifestyle that doesn't overburden you with debt and allows you to have little or no debt by the time you're 50-something, you should easily be a multimillionaire by the time you're 55-60 or so.
Big ditto to starting young. Time is on your side and you can afford to be a aggressive early on. Even some mistakes won't amount to a hill of beans decades later. Those that start late are having to climb uphill fast.
I disagree- You can scrimp and save and do everything right and still end up with nothing. There is no such thing as a sure bet. I watched many people that tried very hard take a huge hit in 2008. Sometimes all it takes is the perfect storm and you can literally bleed cash fast. While it is true you can take a bigger hit when you are younger you always have to be careful and mindful of just what those hits are. I know this guy, he was a cpa and was talking about retirement just about this time last year. He was maybe 57 years old and really looking forward to selling his business and settling down. All the kids were in college and there was no mortgage, no debt. he tells me one day last August he has a headache, and he seems different short tempered. I found out a month ago he went to the doctors and had a brain tumor, they did immediate surgery and he is not well. the cost of the surgery was astronomical and not everything was covered. This man did retire, now permanently, he may not make it to 70. there is now no business, huge debt and no chance to make up losses. It can happen just like that! This man is in the exact same place as a person that never saved a dime. There are no guarantee's.
