Retirees Worry About Income Security
14 posts across 10 communities in the last 30 days; 29% from r/personalfinance.
“Im going to be 66in Kanuary! my full retirement age is 67. If I take it now I'll get 2020 bucks a month just cant work wnd earn until I hit 67 if I wsit ntil 67 to ake it it would be 2150 dollars a month but after I had The stroke I dont ant to do another winter driving. Ill…”
“I'm probably going to stop working at age 66. I'm curious about the idea of withdrawing from my IRA / Roth IRA after I stop work and delay SS until age 70. Im not married. Im not from a family that lives very long. I hope to scrape through and make it to 85 but who knows. How do…”
“Hello all, My question is around the looming social security issue that it is expected to be cut by 22% by 2032 in the US. As we talk about retirement all the time on this sub, should that be taken into account when giving retirement planning advice? For example, if we get $2000…”
Multiple posts focus on retirement planning, specifically how to supplement income and manage assets in retirement. Concerns include interest rates, portfolio allocation, and the potential need for professional advice.
SOURCES (60)
“At what age will you consider starting? 20 years before your retirement date? 10 years before your retirement date? submitted by /u/Scorface [link] [comments]”
“Tuesday, October 06 - Monday, October 12, 2026 Most Commented score comments title & link 278 337 comments Ready to retire but family not so much 176 248 comments Are you busy now that you’re retired? 43 142 comments Did you sell your house at retirement to help fund retirement ? 100 139 comments People’s perception of when you should retire 49 82 comments How to answer income question? Top Remaining Posts score comments title & link 56 15 comments Ending On A High Note: Go-Go, Sl”
“I apply an SWR to investable assets. This is an early retirement sub. [re: For the 60+ that retired in their 40s... tell me about it]”
“Yes, I already reached 40 credits. I recalled SS also looked at past 10 years before starting getting SS money. 100% sure I will not work till age 65 lmao”
“I'm 37 and have like 12 or so years. I'm thinking my goal is by 60. I'm in Missouri with PSRS.”
“After age 67 (FRA), there's no impact to his social security benefit from earning more income. Go for it if you want, though starting the benefit later (up to 70) does increase the monthly amount still. Before age 67, social security will withold $1 of your benefits for every $2 you earn above the annual limit. The way this is done is that social security will withhold whole checks starting in jan until the annual withheld amount is reached. But note that if earnings were withheld, when you”
“Also the monies taken in tax is not devoted to SS. It can be pulled and used for other things.”
“How much is it going to get reduced by and does he actually need the money? If he doesn’t need the money, then he should wait. If it’s going to be reduced significantly, then unless he really needs the money, he should wait.”
“Social security retirement benefits are 100% age based. Anyone at any income or net worth can receive benefits if they have the required 40 credits.”
“Actually, the age is irrelevant. If I think I can get to $5M by the age of 60, the starting line doesn't matter. If the question were "I'm 57 and have $1M saved but want to have $5M saved and retire at 60", then it's a different conversation.”
“It does, but I'm also the type of person who logs onto Fidelity several times a week to see how my accounts look. I live very comfortably and want for nothing, but I can see stress coming from no longer having an income. Maybe I'll move to Orlando and work at Disney for $12/hr just to have something to do.”
“With. Meaning, you can adjust the withdrawal amount for inflation for the duration of your retirement, so the purchasing power stays the same.”
“Im going to be 66in Kanuary! my full retirement age is 67. If I take it now I'll get 2020 bucks a month just cant work wnd earn until I hit 67 if I wsit ntil 67 to ake it it would be 2150 dollars a month but after I had The stroke I dont ant to do another winter driving. Ill miss beng pit there but its just knocked me down from the stroke I have been doing intense PT woth the goal of getting back to work but I think O am gonna just hang it up ! sometimes ya just got to call it! Ill still be”
“The BLS median figure is roughly $65k per year for full time workers, from Q2 2026. When you add in part time workers as well, the median drops to $51k-ish (Census Bureau number from 2024). OPs figures are from SSA from 2023 and include only earned income (ie wages). Different sources use different methodologies, you have to dig into the numbers to see what they’re actually saying.”
“Don't think Social Security will go substantially higher if I wait. Question is- can you put 1.7 mil in CDs/fixed annuity, etc, and live off the interest in combo with the $2400 in social security? No debt, but health insurance is $25k a year, only going up until hopefully Medicare is still there at 65, in 3 years. Also already have $400k in brokerage in etfs, mutual funds (yes I have VOO for one) and some of it in cash there). Those average like 4-8% total, depending. State does not charge”
“I will stop contributing to retirement accounts either when I stop working, or when I start liking to pay taxes, whichever comes first.”
As long as Im making an income I will contribute to retirement.
“I stopped contributing to retirement when I retired which was at 63. A different question is when should you stop working, because at my retirement started generating more income than I was with my income, so that was clearly far exceeding my contributions.”
“A lot of my clients believed it was not going to be taxable, so they took more from their IRAs so they could live a bit more comfortably. They were surprised and angry.”
“Not exactly. We have $75000 from social security, $22000 from and IRA, $30,000 from a Roth IRA. $0 tax EDIT. I looked again. $72000 in social security. The point is, we are not in poverty,(lcol area). Own a house. Take nice trips.”
“Unless you are basically living in poverty, your SS will be taxable. This should not surprise anyone.”
“Right, 60 is the goal but who knows what will change in 20 years. Best of luck!”
“Good points on SS not kicking in until 62 and healthcare between 60-65. Honestly, who knows where SS or Healthcare will stand in 20 years, so just trying to control what we can and max our retirement accounts. Retiring at 60 is the goal, but if things change we'll have to readjust. Thank you for these points though, they are valuable!”
“I wanted to take a snap shot but no images on the post. One second I’ll get that information though and post it here. I did check ssa and it said something like 3400 at full retirement I think.”
“When you retire you'll get Social Security payments and medical insurance through Medicare.”
“I am a married retired federal worker. We are 60 and wife is still working. She plans to work until 62. I retired last summer. Between my TSP, wife's 403b and other accounts we have $2.5M. We are 75/25 stocks/bonds. My pension and wife's income covers our normal spend. Wife is still putting 15% into her 403b. I have done the math. I have enough in the G Fund to cover 10 years of needed money to make up the difference between what my wife makes and what SS will pay her. I also accounted f”
“Great to your supplemental is large. It sounds like we’re on a similar path. I have 8 to 10 years. What’s the projected retirement amount?”
“I'm probably going to stop working at age 66. I'm curious about the idea of withdrawing from my IRA / Roth IRA after I stop work and delay SS until age 70. Im not married. Im not from a family that lives very long. I hope to scrape through and make it to 85 but who knows. How do I balance the benefit and security of a larger SS pension against --the benefit and liquidity of a larger IRA/Roth IRA? Do most people who delay until 70 do so to benefit a spouse? submitted by /u/sal”
“I will retire July 2028. My wife and I have about $650,00 in retirement fund not including SS. I will get $3500 and she will get about $2600. She will not officially retire until age 70. We have $98,000 left on the mortgage at 4.6%. Should we pay it off with 403b monies? Please advise! submitted by /u/Head-Tangerine-9131 [link] [comments]”
Thanks Man. Yep, putting all that on speardsheet and calculating..
“Thank you for the details, this is enlightening. So many things I never considered.”
“Hello all, My question is around the looming social security issue that it is expected to be cut by 22% by 2032 in the US. As we talk about retirement all the time on this sub, should that be taken into account when giving retirement planning advice? For example, if we get $2000 in SS now. Should we say to only expect $1600 by that 2032? Sorry if this breaks rules. I checked but not too thoroughly. submitted by /u/djokky [link] [comments]”
“People always think they have time to plan for retirement. Or they have too little income to contribute to a plan. Either way, they should never be surprised at how much income they will have for retirement. The SSA sends a letter every year explaining exactly how much a person will get based on the year they retire. OP can be forgiven for needing to retire early, but he absolutely should have known if he’d have enough.”
“Even after my dad officially retired he was still doing oil changes and changing tires. He still had a shop, his tire machine, and all his tools though.”
“Why no IRA or 401K? I know some dealer mechanics and they make decent money. I could only imagine 40 years would result in some retirement savings? SS alone is shitty if you are not setup for minimal living costs.”
“If you do return to work, Make sure you don’t exceed $24,480 gross each year, or you’ll end up owing SSA money. You can exceed it, but you must tell SSA the estimated amount right away so they can withhold (suspend) the proper amount of checks from you. The earnings limit goes away once you turn age 67, so you can earn as much as you want from that point (or starting January of the year you’re age 67).”
“Three issues anyone looking to retire before Medicare eligibility within the next 5 - 7years. Social Security drop dead date is now 2032, a short 6 years. If nothing is done, an immediate ~22% haircut across the board for all benefits occurs. Factor this into planning. See above; have all debt completely paid off before retiring early. Budget for health/dental expense annually running about $25k - $30k per couple for each year before Medicare.”
“I’m 54 and starting to seriously think about retiring around 60–62. I’m debt-free other than the mortgage and have been saving consistently, but I’m realizing there are a lot more variables than just having enough in the retirement accounts. For those who know more about retirement planning, what are the biggest things I should be looking at now? I’m thinking about things like paying off the mortgage, healthcare costs before Medicare, Social Security timing, and how much cash to keep outside of”
“retirement is recognized by SS as a life-changing event for IRMAA. The doc needs to file form SSA-44 and get the surcharges dropped when he stops work.”
“OP, do you have shared finances with your current wife? Is she able to get social security based on your earnings?”
“Big facts. I didn’t get started until my early 30s I still feel behind. I want to retire in my 40s or at least have that option to retire.”
“My dad didn’t start saving for retirement till he was in his 40’s. He’s almost 70 and doing great financially. Trust me you’re not late”
“It sounds like I'm in the clear if my retirement distributions don't count towards the income limit.”
“Tuesday, August 18 - Monday, August 24, 2026 Most Commented score comments title & link 336 221 comments How to dump stuff and downsize 33 48 comments Foreign travel- no bucket list, desires fluctuate Top Comments score comment 89 /u/Nyssa_aquatica said I regret that I did not take more opportunities to do what I love even while I was working: the vacations I wanted, the friendly visits I wanted, the family visits I wanted, the hobbies I enjoyed. Som... 61 /u/iteachag5 said Travel if”
“Sure, I've seen something that says a top 1% income at age 40 gives a life expectancy of 87.x for a male. Still, just because someone lives long enough to collect more from ss (waiting until 70 vs. what they'd collect claiming early at age 62), that alone doesn't mean it was better to wait. You need to compare the total collected from ss + ending portfolio value. You can collect less from ss and if claiming early/drawing less on the portfolio early means the ending portfolio value is”
“Scenario: two seniors live on pensions and SS. Proceeds from the sale of their home last year were put into Vanguard (50% in the cash account and 50% in balanced fund). They found an apartment in subsidized senior housing. They were at the top of the qualifying income bracket last year when they moved in. Here’s the problem: They pulled over $20k from their Vanguard account over the last 3 months because they were living above their means and went into debt. I’m trying to help them get things un”
My MIL actually filed for survivor benefits on her husband when she was age 60, at the reduced amount, I think around 70%. Or she could have waited until 67 for her…
“You would have to manually input 0 for the years not worked until she collects”
“I'm a widower who unfortunately doesn't have a family so it's only me. I decided to wait until 67 to claim social security, As someone said, if you're widower, you should be able to apply for Survivor benefits for your late spouse. Then you can claim your regular SS at 67 if it's higher of the two. https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10084.pdf”
“47, also in Canada. Hoping for 55 as that is when I will get access to my DC pension. I save pretty well. I do 6% of my pay into esp and company matches 2% and I do 4% of my pay into DC and company matches 6% I also contribute an additional $335 biweekly into RRSP. So around $700 personal biweekly and company match around $300. In another two years when mortgage is done I'll put that into savings as well, so that will be another $725 biweekly. Saying all that, it all depends on what the mark”
“Hi, I’m just curious. I’m 62 years old, live in Canada, and would like to know how much you’re worth (assets, investments, equity, etc.) and how old you are. How much do you think someone should have saved by age 65 to retire? Would you rely on dividends after retirement? Thank you. submitted by /u/One_Lime3561 [link] [comments]”