[GH85Carrera]

SS will not just start, you have to file for it and tell them when you want it to start. If your family health history is for the men to live to 85 or more, wait until you hit age 70. If your dad died at age 71, start at 65.

There are formulas out there that will show how long you have to live past 70 is you delay to get the same amount of money back. Starting at 65, you are getting money for 5 years more than waiting.

My wife's mom just turned 90, and several of her women relatives made it into the late 90s. It makes sense to wait until she hit 70. You have to do the math, and determine when to start taking the money.

I looked at my SS earning for my lifetime on the SS web site. It showed one year, and zero earnings. I called and after a almost 2 hour wait on hold, I talked to a very helpful man. He said he put a not on the records, and asked I print out paper copies of several items, and to drop them at the local SS office drop box. It took over a year for them to change my statement to reflect that year of earnings.

You really don't ever want to try to go to your local SS office in person. It makes the DMV look like a really happy place.

Of course you have to pay income taxes on your SS benefits. You can tell them to not take out any taxes and then just add that to the end of year taxes you pay, or they will take out a percentage that you can pick so the taxes get paid right out of the benefits. They will also deduct the medicare payments right from the retirement amounts. And they don't send checks, only direct deposit.