Social Security is something we aspiring retirees don’t spend much time talking about. The reality is that Social Security will quite likely be a benefit to many of us in the latter portion of our early retirement.
If you are considering an early retirement, I would strongly encourage you to aim for at least ten years of contributions to the Social Security system. Note that these don’t all necessarily have to be completed prior to pulling the FIRE trigger.
If you don’t have your ten years or 40 quarters in before retiring from your primary profession, you should plan on having at least some reportable income whether from a hobby job or self-employment.
What are these bend points? They’re the two points at which you receive diminishing returns in your monthly benefit once you’ve earned a certain amount of money.
I’ve created a calculator that will tell you whether or not you’ve reached the first and second bend point and will estimate your monthly benefit if you were to stop contributing now.