Is SS to blame for so many men dying at 62av

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/0...ing-at-62.html

interesting Fox News article, especially in contrast to the previous thread about retiring early

since I trust no cable news channels, if this is propaganda designed to sow the thought that social security is bad so politicians can justify cutting it , or if it is a reasonable thought process. However one of the researchers of the study is from Cornell so I would imagine he has good credibility.

Amazing how skeptical I have become of all these polls, studies and surveys.

not sure what the av means after 62 but I can’t fix the typo.

No researcher can know the medical condition of the subjects in their study to a degree of certainty necessary to make such a conclusion. By my observation, many of those who retire at 62 and choose to begin SS payments have been struggling for years with significant health problems and would have died while still employed if there was no SS. Continuing to work at a job that does not enrich you....will kill you as fast as being sedentary. And who says living a few more years hating your job....is better than checking out early anyway?

I’m not seeing what social security has to do with it beyond concentrating retirement age around 62. So we should delay social security to concentrate retirement age later? I’m guessing that if you did that, there would be an even higher percentage of men dying the year they retire, because health problems would be worse with increased age and older retirees would (on average) be even more likely to become sedentary and antisocial.

what the article says to me is “quit smoking, get a check up, start a doctor approved exercise program, find some stuff that interests you and maybe make some friends.”

Chicken lady: what the article says to me is “quit smoking, get a check up, start a doctor approved exercise program, find some stuff that interests you and maybe make some friends.”

So I say to my overworking, phone going off at all hours, checking updates at 4am husband: You won't retire because then you would have to focus on your own self and health and smoking.

There are certain things one hears over and over in all media that I wonder about. Two that come to mind are get your flu shot (even though it doesn't guarantee anything) and delay SS as long as you can. It's as if there is some agenda behind them as they are repeated so often.

Perhaps SS is the problem. Instead of forcing people to struggle to 62 to retire maybe the retirement age should be dropped to 55, since the other study found that people who retire at 55 live to be 80 on average. THen all these sickly men could stop working before their jobs completely destroy their health.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jp1

Perhaps SS is the problem. Instead of forcing people to struggle to 62 to retire maybe the retirement age should be dropped to 55, since the other study found that people who retire at 55 live to be 80 on average. THen all these sickly men could stop working before their jobs completely destroy their health.

---

the other story was very old, had been circulating the internet for years and was debunked. I gave links.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Williamsmith

No researcher can know the medical condition of the subjects in their study to a degree of certainty necessary to make such a conclusion. By my observation, many of those who retire at 62 and choose to begin SS payments have been struggling for years with significant health problems and would have died while still employed if there was no SS. Continuing to work at a job that does not enrich you....will kill you as fast as being sedentary. And who says living a few more years hating your job....is better than checking out early anyway?

---

Yes, you can interpret many studies to support your assumptions. Who knows

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by flowerseverywhere

the other story was very old, had been circulating the internet for years and was debunked. I gave links.

---

The reality is that neither article seemed to point to any proof of causation, only correlation coupled with speculation.

Oh yeah, not a really great article. I love the comment that they are more at risk because they drive more. My parents retired and are so busy now with volunteer and small paid jobs. My dad actually went from driving as a traveling salesman to driving for a blood bank. So lots of driving risk!

My Dad's job made him so physically sick that he had to retire at age 54. He was a tool grinder in an auto plant before they wore any protective equipment so got emphysema so bad that he couldn't walk a block or tighten his wheel at work to grind tools anymore. He had no strength left at all. He worked right up until it was not physically possible anymore. He was able to get SSDI and collect his 30 year pension early because of his disability.

Williamsmith + 1.
We have had several conversations about when to draw SS. In our situation I can't see any scenario where it pays (no pun intended) to wait. Why spend my money when I can spend SS? I have no guarantee how long I will live so why leave money on the table? I retired early from a job that was getting more difficult year after year. Like many of our retirees it ended up being like a drink out of the fountain of youth. Once away from that environment a lot of stress went away. We now spend every morning engaged in some sort of physical exercise and are eating a lot better. I wish I would have gone sooner. My husband had planned on working until at least 65 and loved his work. He had a stroke at 57 and was never able to return.

Taking SS at a particular date should be part of a whole financial plan. For example, we saved enough to provide for ourselves without SS. Therefore, it is wise to take it now since the government will probably increase the taxes in the future. More value now.

For those who have only SS as a retirement plan, it might be wise to hold off and maximize the benefit. It is a substantial increase for waiting and the taxes, when it is almost the only income, will be slight.

And as many have pointed out, it is a gamble one way or the other.

Sounds like guns kill people, pencils cause spelling errors, and spoons cause weight gain.

I don’t see how having money for retirement will kill anybody. By that logic, anybody with a 401(k), 403(b), or cash in coffee cans, is at the same risk of dying at retirement as anybody who draws SS. It’s all money.

Taking care of health issues prior to retirement is good advice, regardless of age at which retirement monies are tapped, or their source.

Fox News is a subsidiary of Fox Entertainment, and is owned by 21st Century Fox. It’s consistently rated as the least truthful of the media channels. In this case, the study is interesting, but Fox’s take-home spin is disingenuous and deceptive. Carried to its logical extreme, abolishing SS would lead to immortality for men!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Suzanne

I don’t see how having money for retirement will kill anybody. By that logic, anybody with a 401(k), 403(b), or cash in coffee cans, is at the same risk of dying at retirement as anybody who draws SS. It’s all money.

Taking care of health issues prior to retirement is good advice, regardless of age at which retirement monies are tapped, or their source.

Fox News is a subsidiary of Fox Entertainment, and is owned by 21st Century Fox. It’s consistently rated as the least truthful of the media channels. In this case, the study is interesting, but Fox’s take-home spin is disingenuous and deceptive. Carried to its logical extreme, abolishing SS would lead to immortality for men!

---

Saying Fox is rated as the least truthful of the media channels is like saying Anchorage, Ak is the coldest of all the Alaskan places in February. At certain temperatures, it doesn’t matter. It’s damn cold.

We are all intelligent enough to know Research from propaganda. Mostly it depends on if you are looking for truth or if you love confirmation. The media is supposed to be a free organ of the public to keep government accountable. It has been taken over by the political parties and used as propaganda to create support for a political action.

It’s getting more and more difficult to filter out the propaganda, lie and mistruths because issuing “information” is so instantaneous and easy. I disregard major news outlets and look for any without a political ax to grind or a silent partner funding them.

I'm sure many people take SS at 62 because they can't find work (and many have been looking for a few years prior). Not so many people out there that want to hire seniors afterall. So even if there are some 62 year olds who voluntarily take retirement and would be happier working, it has to be considered that many others can't work because they can't physically work anymore or simply because they can't find work at that age.

Driving more just seems like it couldn't possibly happen given the kind of commutes people are putting in every day to get to and from work, it seems it would take a lot of volunteering to equal. Besides the fact that most people are commuting at the same time as everyone else and thus can't help but get stuck in traffic, volunteering schedules might well be more flexible in hours worked and location of work than most paid labor, thus you would just think they have to reduce the hours stuck in traffic.

We both happily took ours a year ago at 62. The weird thing for us is that after so many years of regimented work roles, it is hard to accept that we are free to do as we please for now. I still feel a bit guilty when I sleep in or read for an hour in the middle of the afternoon:)

Pinky toe, That guilt fades after a few years and becomes a major source of JOY!

I havent done specific math but have done general figures in my head. For us, being on Obamacare and paying $0 for premiums because we are low income trumps pulling in Social Security for both of us and throwing us out of the ball park of huge health insurance subsidies.

One we hit Medicare eligible age, I will take Social Security. DH may hold off on his SS since in that case 2/3 of our household income is generated by me simply being alive. If I die, he has only his own SS for income and that amount isnt big.

I won't take mine until my FRA of 66 because I still work p.t. and don't want to get penalized for that. Plus due to WEP it is so tiny it will probably just pay for my supplemental insurance.