McEwen Mining Inc (MUX)

[gharma]

Ha - dateline on that article, Dec 27, 2010, not quite two full months after I left my job and locked the office door for the last time Not a single regret.

I am continuously surprised at this ignorance repeated over and over and over

Social Security. Nearly 3 out of 4 people file to claim Social Security benefits as soon as they're eligible at age 62. That locks them in at a much lower amount than they would get if they waited.

The monthly checks are about 25 percent less if you retire at 62 instead of full retirement age, which is 66 for those born from 1943 to 1954. If you wait until 70, your check can be 75 to 80 percent more than at 62. So, a boomer who claimed a $1,200 monthly benefit in 2008 at age 62 could have received about $2,000 by holding off until 70.

The Social Security Admin itself say that the amount given, as reduced for early or as increased to delayed is calculated so that over the course of expected life the total amount paid will be the same. Figure it this way . . . start 4 years early but get only 75% . . . that means one gets 3 = 4 * 0.75 that one would not otherwise get. Then if one had waited one would get 100%, or 25% more . . . so for the person that started early it takes 3 / 0.25 = 12 years before the difference has been equaled. For them that is age 74. And that does not count the decrease in buying power or lost opportunity cost. Just the same total dollar value received by age 74 whether starting early or at 66. Calculate in the other gains by having the money sooner and it gets worse.

Goes to show one that it is dangerous to be unthinking when reading things written by the uncritical.