The Early Bird of Retirement Doesn't Get the Worm

Thinking about retiring earlier since you turned 62, the age when you are eligible for early retirement and can collect social security? Well, you better take a hard look at the drawbacks of early retirement.


I visited the Van Nuys Social Security Administration office a few weeks ago. I appeared to be the only U.S. citizen in the room or at least, I thought so. I grumbled a lot about illegals coming to the US and going on Social Security and then asked the security guard whether all the people in the waiting room are Americans. She told me that as long as you can establish legal residence and have a Green Card, you are eligible for SS. I wasn't too happy to hear that. Of course, a person must pay into the system and put in a certain amount of money to qualify, but why should non-U.S. citizens benefit from a retirement package if they did not go through the process of becoming part of the red, white and blue? Even if they put money into the system, if they are illegal, how about the money they aren't paying in taxes and getting paid under the table?

When I was able to see my representative, I asked him the same question about illegals receiving Social Security Benefits. He asked me, "What do you want us to do, throw these people out on the streets?" I replied, "Yes, and then maybe they will either return to their country of origin or become U.S. citizens like my grandparents did when they came here over seventy years ago."

So if you're 20 to 40 years old and you are worried about receiving Social Security benefits, you should be deeply concerned. Youre paying for the retirement of people who are not citizens and no one knows how long they've even been in the U.S. They could have falsified Social Security cards and IDs. But no one in the federal or state governments wants to touch the sacred cow of illegal aliens. Therefore, the younger U.S. citizens will suffer. I won't. Why? Because I've been paying Social Security taxes since I was 16 years old. I've put into the system and when I am ready, I am taking my money out.

So what did I find out about early retirement? Well, you can retire at 62 years of age. I think my benefits are close to $1600 a month. However, once I make over $11,000 in any given year, my benefits are suspended for that year. I would have to wait until the next year, assuming I am not working or making over $11,000 to reapply for my early retirement benefits. I concluded early retirement is for people who can live for under $30,000 a year or maybe have some other money hidden away.

As for me I want to work as long as I can and if I can, I want to make more than $30,000 a year. If I wait until I am 66, I will make an additional $500 a month on my Social Security benefits and at that age I can work all I want without having my SS benefits suspended. Not bad. So I am waiting. Not that I'm looking forward to becoming 66. I dread it. But the supplemental pay is decent.

One more item i discovered is that if you take an early retirement, you are locked into that lower amount for the rest of your life just because you took out your money early. So if I took my $1600 a month, I would make that amount from SS until I'm deceased. No thanks. I'll always go for the higher amount because I worked for over 40 years and I want my full benefits.

A lot of people I've spoken to have taken early retirement and did not know this information and are kicking themselves for making a bad, misinformed decision.

On the other hand, we need a major Social Security overhaul to make sure illegals are prevented from tapping into the system. Friends have told me that they have gone down to the SS Administration office in their town and applied for SS and were never asked for ID. Once again, the illegals have found another way to rip off America-the country with it's hand out to anyone crafty enough to abuse the system and get away with it.

The Early Bird of Retirement Doesn't Get the Worm

More Politics of Illegal Immigration

With McCain as the Republican presidential frontrunner, the issue of illegal immigration is even more important. Voters need to know their stuff. We must be on top of the issues regarding the blight of illegal immigration and why it is such a serious matter.

Let’s talk about a myth that has affected the thinking of people regarding illegals. Heather McDonald brought this to my attention and I have consulted her articles to write this blog.

Once again, Heather Mac Donald is a John M. Olin fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor to City Journal. She also is a recipient of 2005 Bradley Prize for Outstanding Intellectual Achievement. Her credentials are quite impressive and can be checked out at the Manhattan Institute's webpage. She is also a prolific writer of books and articles on the issue of illegal immigration.

The myth is stated as follows: Hispanics will save the American family from the rising tide of illegitimacy and disintegration.


The idea is that illegal Hispanics are good for this country since they possess wonderful family values that the rest of us do not possess. The family values that the rest of us Americans have lost would be restored through the presence of illegals in our society. Is this true or does it just make a good argument lacking serious substantiation.

When we speak to people living in Southern California or other areas of heavily populated Hispanics, we are given a different story. My son attends a Southern California suburban school. I have occasion to speak to the assistant principal and he has repeated often that it's mostly the Hispanic kids who are the ones getting into fights, bringing drugs into the school and giving reason for the police to be called to the school premises. In my neighborhood, Hispanic youths are not having a positive influence on the surrounding white community.

Another issue, according to Heather McDonald is teen single parenthood. She says, “among Hispanic teens the stigma of teen single parenthood has vanished. Social workers in Southern California are in despair over the epidemic of single parenting. To cope with it, Hispanic teens are looking to welfare and social services.”

The problem is compounded by the fact Hispanic teens are looking to their mothers and grandmothers who are having or have had babies outside of marriage. The practice is becoming quite normal.

Here are the alarming statistics from a Heather McDonald article in HumanEvents:

Hispanic women have the highest unmarried birthrate in the country -- over three times that of whites and Asians, and nearly one and a half times that of black women, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Every 1,000 unmarried Hispanic women bore 92 children in 2003 (the latest year for which data exist), compared with 28 children for every 1,000 unmarried white women, 22 for every 1,000 unmarried Asian women, and 66 for every 1,000 unmarried black women. Forty-eight percent of all Hispanic births occur outside of marriage, compared with 24 percent of white births and 15 percent of Asian births. Only the percentage of black out-of-wedlock births -- 68% -- exceeds the Hispanic rate.

Put this together. With increasing illegitimacy rate for Hispanics with their overall high fertility rate, where is this myth of family values? What's it based on?

Let me repeat this: The Mexican teen birthrate is 93 births per every 1000 girls, compared with 27 births for every 1000 white girls. Now line up the costs connected with illegitimacy, i.e. . . . kids raised in single-parent homes: higher risk of school failure, emotional problems, teen pregnancy and poverty. There’s little contribution to family values at all at this rate of high Hispanic teen pregnancy.

Here’s more information that breaks up this myth:

Hispanics have the highest school dropout rate in the country. This is a recipe for economic decline. In the LA Unified School District, which is 73% Hispanic, just 40% of Hispanic students graduate. It is well known that those who are supportive of illegal immigrants are opposed to the long deferred California high school exit exam, which would require students to answer just 50% of questions testing eighth grade level math and ninth-grade level English. If such an exam becomes a requirement, Hispanic graduation rates would become even lower . . . drop below 30%.

We can only imagine the money being spent from taxpayers’ money to try to keep these young Hispanics in school. I wonder if their illegal non-tax paying parents are financially contributing? I sure hope so.

The argument that the presence of illegals Hispanics in the U.S. is justified due to their family values is fallacious. It is not a pretty picture but we must stand before this mural of illegal immigration and see it for what it is. Let’s stop fooling ourselves thinking this problem will go away or will be solved on its own.


Our welfare system is in danger of collapsing (which might not be such a bad idea), our social security system is in jeopardy and our healthcare system is in shambles. Why? Because 11-12 million people in this country are taking cash out of these beneficial systems without putting anything back in. It's only a matter of time before it all collapses. So when the Democratic candidates appear to extend an open hand to illegals, you and I need to look deeper at the long term repercussions of such an unwise (but popular among Hispanic voters) stance.

I have more to say. Just one more thing, I promise. The issue of illegals and crime.

More Politics of Illegal Immigration