@cpaynter said in How will the new tax bill affect your taxes?:

@principalmember said in How will the new tax bill affect your taxes?:

There has been a lot of crying about the property tax/state income taxes being limited to 10K (effectively can’t even do it since you need a big mortgage to overcome the 24K std deduction). But personally, for the high earners, not being able to deduct state income tax may be wash since the new rates are lower at the higher end.

Sure, for the high earners it’s great. But for those of us <$160k AGI, we’re seeing our taxes increased. I thought this was supposed to be a tax break for the middle class? What’s middle class now, a minimum of $200k?

Waa Waa Waa The rich get more benefit from the tax break! The rich pay more taxes, so of course they are going to benefit more from any tax break. Instead have every citizen pay the same amount regardless of income. That would the most fair.

@my4mainecoons said in What’s Best Option for Paying Dental Bill?:

@mommyofhandk Doubt national health insurance would pay for implants. My uncle was a consultant living in Toronto for a few years but he would cross back to the U.S. for medical care.

My wife was going to get implants until she talked to a group of seniors that had implants. Of six seniors that had implants only one senior was satisfied with the implant. The other five had complications after a few years and four had to have the implants removed.

Will the new tax bill affect how Social Security is taxed?
Currently if a couples
"Combined Income"
Your adjusted gross income
+ Nontaxable interest
+ ½ of your Social Security benefits
= Your “combined income”

   > $32,000 50% of SS is taxed   > $44,000 85% of SS is taxed**

Has the new tax bill affected this?

Just so you know, the maximum spousal benefit your wife will get is half of the benefit you’d get at your FRA of 66. Delaying to 70 will still benefit you, but it won’t increase her spousal benefit beyond that.

“The maximum benefit for the spouse is 50% of the benefit the worker would receive at full retirement age.”

Thanks for that info.
I did not know that and will have to adjust my figures in my spreadsheets. This probably will not affect my choice to wait till 70 though. The main reason I’m waiting till 70 is that my wife’s family has a tendency to be long lived. Most of her relatives have and are living past the 100 year mark.

@uncamikey said in Social Security Restriced Application:

SS benefits are actuarially equivalent, regardless of the age they begin. I.e., if your age at death is estimated to be 84, then whether you start at 62, 66, or 70 makes no difference, the total amount received is the same. If you end up living less than that, you’re better off taking benefits earlier. If you live longer, you’re better off waiting until 70.

Did you read that in a government publication?
I have ran quite a few spreadsheets and if we start collecting when my wife turns 66 and I wait to collect my full amount at 70 we will reach parity at at age 75 years and 7 months of age. So I am only behind 9 years and 1 month after that I pull ahead by $469 a month or $5628 a year. Worth waiting for. Plus the added tax benefit of my IRA withdrawals from less income from SS keep that IRA money in a lower tax bracket for nine years.

Delayed SS increases @ 8%. Try to get that at a bank. Plus the increased SS payments will (maybe) also be increased by cost of living adjustments. The larger SS payment will have a larger cost of living adjustment due to the larger amount of the payment. Plus I am also dribbling out IRA funds to rollover into a Roth account. Adding SS funds now would push those IRA funds into a higher tax bracket. For a few years now I have be rolling over just enough IRA money to max out my standard deduction. That allows me to roll those IRA funds over tax free.

My wife turns 66 soon and will apply for her Social Security. I’m 67 and waiting until I’m 70 so that both me and my wife can claim my higher Social Security amount. I recently found out that I can claim a restricted application for a spousal benefit to collect half of my wife’s Social Security. This will allow me to collect half of hers while my Social Security will still increase until i’m 70. Then when I reach 70 both my wife and I can claim on my increased Social Security. Does anybody know of a problem with this plan? Is this the best way to maximize our retirement income stream?