Retire Early Home Page Discussion Board

[admin]

Interesting article from ESPlanner.

http://www.esplanner.com/Case%20Studies/double_dip/double_dip.htm

This seems too good to be true. After all, there are perhaps ten million retirees in their late sixties and early seventies who could potentially significantly raise their living standards by withdrawing and reapplying. Yet, from our checking with local Social Security and discussions with top Social Security officials, approving this request is routine. If you go to the office, fill out the form, hand them a check, you can then reapply on the spot and start receiving the higher benefit. Social Security’s attitude is that this is a legitimate option for people to consider and if it makes them better off financially, they should use it.

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intercst

[sgeeeee]

I still haven't met anyone personally who has done this, but this is my current plan.
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-=sgeeeee=-

[admin]

[Cut-Throat]

[rocket777]

Unlike other financial contracts, social security rules are subject to the whims of congress. Since the money they use to pay benefits comes from the same pot they use to pay for everything else, especially wars, it is entirely possible (and probable) that when the squeeze happens that congress will just change things.

The other way they can cheat is by making up the rules they use to compute the cpi, or inflation numbers, and this is how a debter can cancel out a debt. Unlike others, the government has the option of printing as much new money as it wants, i.e. legal counterfeiting, and so has control of both how much to inflate and how little to say inflation is. For example, they can inflate 10% but declare that the cpi only increased 2%. This way they can reduce their obligations by manipulation of the money supply.

Considering how dishonest the government has become, I wouldn't want to be buying an annuity from them no matter how good the numbers seem at present. Given the current deficits it's only a matter of time before they require that you pay back an inflation adjusted amount with interest. And this is more likely to happen if people actually start doing this.

[admin]

[friar1610]

I was travelling this weekend and got a free USA Today at my hotel. The business section Friday had an article on how to do this. With more and more publicity (e.g., also the Scott Buns article and who knows how many others), how long do you think it will be before Congress plugs this "loophole"? I suspect it will happen before I get to take advantage of it (not that it was an essential part of my decision to take SS @ 62, but it would be a nice bonus.)
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friar1610

[admin]

The July 2008 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine (p. 6 has an article on the SS Withdrawal of Application strategy that was described on the REHP website last September.

http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/cheap_annuity.html

Of interest is an interview with a 70-year-old retiree who successfully filed the Withdrawal of Application and now enjoys an extra $1,000/month in his SS check. Kiplinger's tax correspondent Mary Beth Franklin also found out that of the 32 million retirees collecting SS, only 71 people filed for the extra benefit this year.

intercst