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A misleading article; i.e., where can you invest for *%? And if you are still working and earning more than the ceiling amount, you have to pay back a dollar for every 3 earned. Don't try to outsmart the systen unless you have money to spare.

Well, this is why we join AARP and read their publications, and anything else we can get our hands on about this subject! Big city newspapers have lots of articles on Social Security in the Business sections of the Sunday papers.

Unfortunately, we have to be careful about going to the SS locations and talking to their (supposed) agents, or calling on the phone. Some of these people are overly dramatic, or simply don't know how to state what is true. A friend of mine was told that as soon as she earned more in a year that the limit while collecting benefits, "She'd have to 'send the whole check back!;" Huh? First of all, you get your benefit electronically, directly in your bank account (if you are not crazy). Next, when you earn more in a year than your limit to still collect full benefits, they simply lower your amount or don't pay you in January of the following year. Maybe February too, etc., until they have held back the proper amount. Then your benefits resume. In addition, later in the year, they refigure your benefit based upon the amount you earned at your part-time job the previous year! I have this on good authority from a banker who has worked with SS recipients for years.

Thanks, Nubee. Yeah, I forgot to mention, that's a real pie-in-the-sky scenario, earning EIGHT PERCENT every year for a number of years!!! Gee whiz, I'd like to know where that person invests his money. I work for an investment company, and although eight percent is certainly possible, with some investments in some years, that would NEVER, ever be quoted as a typical rate to expect!

When I retired, I ran into one I didn't see coming. Apparently there's an anti double dipping law, which allows them to deduct your government pension from your social security. This cut my total benefits down to where I'm not quite eligible for food stamps, just really close. What a shocker! Now that I've gotten over the hump of the bad health I was in at the time, I think I have to go back to work.

SUNNYSIDE/ALL....Sunnyside...I get a state pension but never had such a deduction (??) Were you a fed?

I'd been retired 11 years before I was able to collect SS benefits. I decided not to wait until 66 for several reasons, one being who knows if I'll live four more years. My sister decided to wait but died before she could collect a penny. The next is the more you make, the more they take anyway, also our pension plan has a generous COLA. Also, I believe I can invest so that I'll make extra $$ on the deal in the long run.

With all the the retirement planning tools on the internet, anyone who can add, subtract, is willing to take the time, expend a little energy and be honest with themselves about their finances can do the analysis themselves.

In your planning you should talk to a lawyer savvy about SS,Medicaid,and Medicare law. It may be wise.