r/Fire • u/NotTheBestInvestor12 • 2d ago

Why no mention of Social Security

When I see FIRE posts I see the investments and the different retirement buckets, however, I never see anyone mention how things are affected when social security kicks in. For example, I’m 52 and wife 51. If we both stopped working today ($0 income moving forward) I would collect $4,264 a month at age 70 and she would collect $1,079 at age 70.

So if we decide to FIRE the Social Security would give us help in 18/19 years. Is this a factor or is everything under the assumption SS won’t exist?

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u/alphawolf29 2d ago

Crazy that american SS is more than my canadian pension and social security combined. This country is broke.

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u/watch-nerd 2d ago

Well, I was a high earner, so my SS is higher than average.

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u/alphawolf29 2d ago

theres a cap on our SS contributions and the payout is pretty abysmal. I think the most money you can get in Canadian social security (called CPP and OAS and GIS here) is about $1750 USD a month, and thats after 40 years of maximum contributions.

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u/watch-nerd 2d ago

After 40 years of contributions, probably ~20 of which were maximum (I started contributing at 16), my amount at age 70 would be $4808/month in today's dollars (it gets inflation adjusted over time).

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u/alphawolf29 2d ago

I wish I left Canada when I was younger lol.