The Big Things Everyone Forgets

Doug and Lee discuss the importance of considering health and longevity when deciding when to take Social Security benefits. They also highlight the significance of spousal benefits and the role of financial planning in ensuring a comfortable retirement.

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Transcript:

Something else I want people to look at when it comes to when they take Social Security is their health.

People don’t want to do that.

When you get into your 60s, a lot of people don’t want to think about how long they’re going to live.

But many, many people know that they’re not likely to live to be 70, 75, 80, for whatever reason.

So, I mean, I would urge people to actually sit down.

Maybe it’s with your doctor or somebody else who understands your health and say, look, should I really take Social Security early?

Because I don’t expect to live to be 70 or 75.

If I take it when I’m 67, maybe I end up getting it for four years.

So I think that people, as grim as it may be, should ask themselves, what’s my health?

And do I have an idea about how long I think I’m likely to live?

Well, and there’s always the choice for a spouse too.

They can take their husbands or vice versa.

Husband take the wives.

Social Security ends up being more than theirs.

Right. So there’s another aspect people should think.

Right. I’ll give you a good example of this.

A lot of people who start to date or live together.

In their 60s, 70s, 80s, one of the reasons, maybe the only reason that they should get married is for the reason that you just described.

Yeah. As people age, if they’re in a relationship that’s a very, very close relationship, they have to ask themselves if they want to do something of substance for their significant other.

And in this case, it actually means going down to the courthouse or maybe it’s a destination wedding where you lived in Hawaii or something like that.

Vegas or maybe where you lived in Hawaii and get married.

You know, you end up passing a benefit on to somebody else.

Well, and also it’s important for those that are either married in retirement, nearing retirement, getting to Social Security age, it’s important to have some sort of financial planner or somebody who can give you an idea of what your money, which has grown to, hopefully it has, what it can earn the rest of your life, what an actuarial table would show on age for men and women, and get an idea on actually how Social Security will pay in to your overall income.

Financial picture.

Because for many people, again, living on it strictly is almost impossible.

I mean, I guess a one-bedroom apartment, maybe you get food stamps, something like that.

But I mean, for many Americans, it’s very difficult to live on.

But that’s why their 401k or their self-directed IRA or their Roth IRA is an adjunct to Social Security to help get the kind of passive income you need to live a nice retirement year.

Most of the people I know start to look at that formula in their late 50s.

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