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URL:  http://boards.fool.com/stockgoddess-writes-firned-of-mine-explained-this-29826226.aspx

Subject:  Re: social security Date:  2/4/2012  2:46 PM
Author:  intercst Number:  70106 of 72274
StockGoddess writes,

Firned of mine explained this to me how she decided not to take a job overseas - one of her reasons was how those "zeros" would affect her SS in the long run.

That's odd. Most overseas posts come with a salary increase far in excess of a zero on your SS earnings record. Here's an analysis of how much you'll lose by retiring early and having "zeros" in your record.

http://retireearlyhomepage.com/soc_security.html

For example, for someone paying the maximum FICA for his whole career. Retiring with 35 years of earnings gives him a benefit of $1,964/month. If he retires 5 years earlier and had 5 zeros in his earnings record, it only reduced the benefit to $1,888. That's a $76 month reduction for 5 years worth of zeros. A 60-year-old could buy an inflation-adjusted annuity with a $76/month benefit for about $24,000.

intercst
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