ScrappyAZ

I will be 64 years old in December. My daughter is pregnant with her first child, and the baby is due December 10. Since I would like to spend as much time as possible with my first grandchild, this makes me think retiring is definitely the right thing to do. I was planning to retire at the end of the year, December 31, but a friend told me I should retire in January 2015. When I asked why I should wait until January, she said "It starts a new year." Other than extending the medical benefits I receive from my job for January, are there any other benefits to retiring at the beginning of the year versus the end of the year?

Stitchnripper

I don't know about benefits to timing, but, unless you spent a lot of $$ on commuting, lunches out, and dry cleaning, etc., I found my expenses did not decline at retirement. And there is so much more time to be "out and about"!! See how much more your benefits would be with the different retirement dates.

Have to say, as worried as I was about being retired, I am loving it.

QuiltnNan

no thoughts about dec/jan... but think about the amount of social security you will get... do you have funds to hold you to full retirement age? taking early social security could be a mistake... everyone is different. good luck.

kydeb

I don't know about where you work, but I work for a University. We don't get the normal holidays everyone else gets throughout the year but we have a week or so off between Christmas and New Year's. I would wait until January just to get all of my holidays ;-)

SueSew

Does your daughter need you to retire to help with the baby? My sister-in-law thought she would have all the time in the world for her sons' kids but their mom's didn't go for the plan! LOL I believe they referred to her as a helicopter Grandma!

I would certainly not make a life decision without calculating how long you except to live after 65 and what your post-retirement income and expenses would be.

Maybe instead of retiring you could take a week or two off to help her out until she is up to speed.

Prism99

You need to make an appointment at your local Social Security office and sit down with a rep to go over your history and benefits. They can tell you ***exactly*** what different retirement dates will mean to you.

One possible difference between Dec 31 and Jan 1 is that it may affect the quarters used by SS to determine your benefits. SS uses a certain number of quarters of work history, and usually the most recent quarters are the ones in which you earned the most money and therefore will yield the bigger SS benefits. I think the quarters worked must be full quarters, so a 1-day difference in your retirement could result in a smaller monthly benefit.

Make an appointment with SS so you know exactly what your options are; then you can make an informed decision.

Edit: Also, full retirement age as calculated by SS varies by your year of birth. I am older than you, and full retirement for me was at age 65. Being younger, your full retirement age might be 66. I believe this affects when you are eligible for Medicare. Before that, you are entirely responsible for your own medical insurance -- and for older women, that can be very pricey! This is another aspect of retirement you need to figure out before you actually retire. Even with the affordable care act, good medical insurance coverage for a woman in her 60's can be quite a large monthly amount -- which you may need to pay for an extra year, depending on when you qualify for Medicare.

Edit2: I Googled, and it looks like everyone is eligible for Medicare at 65 (even if their full retirement age is later). There are so many different things to consider for an individual, it really is wise to sit down with someone at SS and go over your options. They are the experts.

Sewnoma

I have no advice, I just wanted to say congratulations!!!

Nammie to 7

I agree with Prism99. Check with someone at your local social security office. Make an appointment, don't just show up, it will take forever to get in. If you have an appointment you just go in, even if others (without appointments) have been waiting. I retired at 65 because I could get Medicare, retiring before that was way too expensive to get insurance! Good luck.

Ginaky

My reasons for working till January 1, too! I also work for a University in KY and we get off about 10 days for the holiday and I want my pay!

LynnVT

I think you're getting some good advice here. Waiting until you are able to get full SS, unless you have a health concern, is so much wiser in the long run. When I retired at 66 I realized what a difference that would make for my life. Using the "New Year" as a goal sounds emotionally satisfying, but I hope you take your time and do as others suggest by going to your Social Security office to learn all the ins and outs of it, unless you have a LOT of money stashed away for the decades to come. And do consider carefully how the new mom feels about it. Do you have other plans for your life after work? Lots of quilting? Volunteering? Maybe a part time job? Everybody's needs are very different. Good luck!