Today I downloaded the Social Security Detailed Calculator
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/anypia.htmlIt lets you manually enter your 30-40 years of wages and even project forward if you're planning to work beyond the last year you entered. That is a nice feature since I was able to put in that if I work until 62 I'll get about $1,820 per month, and if I work until 56 and file at 62 that I'll get $1,724 per month. I was wondering what would happen to the benefit if I got laid off in my mid-50's.
For comparison, the Social Security website said that I'll get $1,813 if I retire at 62. I may have ended up with the $1,820 due to how I filled out the data for the calculator.
I got an error when I tried to put in my spouse and child, so maybe I'll have another go at that.
Edit 1:
It looks like if I file at 62, I can get child benefits ($1,200+) until my kid gets out of high school just before I turn 66. (45 mo x $1,200 = $54,000.) After that, I'm back down to $1700-1800 range. At 67, I could suspend for 3 years (losing 1750 * 36 = $63,000) but increasing my 1750 to 2170 at age 70. Hmm. That would seem to mean I'm ahead at age 82 roughly, so maybe don't suspend at 67? (I'm not considering being able to earn money/dividends with the early payments in the above.)
Edit 2:
Still running some rough numbers, it looks like
1> Getting benefits with the kid and then losing them when he gets out of high school leaves me at 82 with benefits of about $481,000.
2> Getting more per month by waiting until 67 (with no kid benefits) leaves me with benefits of about $475,000.
Now both of these were calculated by saying I wouldn't be getting a salary (e.g. layoff) after next year when I'm 55.
Edit 3:
If I adjust the above scenario to say I'll work until 60 (instead of 55), filing at 62 with the kid benefit is $494,000 and at 67 is $491,000 at age 82.