Can You Collect Social Security At 66 And Still Work
Yes. You can work while you receive Social Security retirement or survivors benefits.
When you reach your full retirement age, you can work and earn as much as you want and still get your full Social Security benefit payment.
However, if you start collecting benefits before your full retirement age, say at age 62, and if your earnings exceed the earnings limit, some of your benefit payments during the year will be withheld.
When you reach full retirement age, Social Security will pay you a higher monthly benefit.
Note that if you turn 62 in 2022, your full retirement age is 67.
How To Qualify For Social Security Benefits
Social Security benefits are available to employees working in a job covered by Social Security. If you have been paying into Social Security, you qualify to collect Social Security checks if you have at least 40 work credits. In 2022, $1,510 in earnings represent one work credit, and you can earn up to four credits in a year.
Additionally, the Social Security Administration uses 35 best-paid years of your career to determine your average indexed monthly earnings . If you did not work for the required 35 years, SSA adds zeros in the years with no earnings, and this could lower your Social Security payments. If you worked for more than 35 years, SSA uses the highest-earning years to replace the years with low earnings.
Also, you must meet the minimum age for Social Security. You can collect Social Security at age 62, but you will receive reduced benefits than if you waited until the full retirement age. The full retirement age starts at 66 , and it gradually increases to 67 for people born in 1960 for later.
Waiting Til Age 70 Yields The Highest Benefit But Only Big Earners Get The Max
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A Tea Reader: Living Life One Cup at a Time
The maximum Social Security retirement benefit that you can receive depends on the age when you begin collecting and your earnings history, among other factors. In 2022, the maximum is $3,345 per month for someone who files at full retirement age at age 66. But $4,194 is the absolute highest benefit for those who qualify and delay claiming until age 70.
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What Debts Are Forgiven At Death
What Types of Debt Can Be Discharged Upon Death?
- Secured Debt. If the deceased died with a mortgage on her home, whoever winds up with the house is responsible for the debt. …
- Unsecured Debt. Any unsecured debt, such as a credit card, has to be paid only if there are enough assets in the estate. …
- Student Loans. …
What If I Change My Mind
If you receive Social Security benefits at a reduced rate but then change your mind, you have the option of withdrawing your application within the first 12 months of receiving benefits and paying back to the government what you’ve already received . Then, you could restart benefits at a later date to take advantage of a higher payout. Be aware that you’re limited to one withdrawal per lifetime.
For example, let’s say you elected to receive early benefits at age 62 but then decided to go back to work at age 63. You could withdraw your Social Security application, pay back the years’ worth of benefits you received, go back to work, and then wait until your full retirement age to restart your benefit checks at a higher level.
Once you reach full retirement age, another option is to voluntarily stop benefits at any point before age 70 to receive delayed retirement credits . Benefits will automatically restart at age 70 at a higher amountâunless you choose to start taking benefits before then. Note that when you withdraw your application or stop your benefits after full retirement age, you must specify if your Medicare coverageâif you have itâshould be included in the withdrawal.
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Extra $1800 A Year Could Be Ahead
On average, a retiree could see about an extra $150 a month if there’s a 9% cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security for next year based on an example of current benefits of around $1,656 a month. A cost-of-living adjustment in this example would be an additional $1,800 a year.
We must wait until October for the official cost-of-living adjustment for 2023 to be announced by the Social Security Administration.
“This will be one of the highest COLAs ever paid in the history of the program,” predicted Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Based on consumer price index data for the year through July, the COLA adjustment could be around 9.6% if inflation continued at a similar pace.
If inflation heats up in the months ahead, that adjustment could jump a bit to around 10.1%, according to estimates from the Senior Citizens League.
If inflation cools down more in the months ahead, the adjustment would drop and could end up at an 8% to 9% range, according to estimates.
Only two months of consumer price data August and September are left to go for the adjustment to be calculated. The September data is to be announced Oct. 13 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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What If Youreclose To The Maximum Social Security Benefit But Not Quite There
If you check your earnings history and find that you fellshort of the limit for a few years, dont despair. It may not even affect yourbenefit very much.
Since the Social Security formula is progressive, meaningmore credit is given for lower earnings and less credit given for earningswhich are approaching the maximum taxable earning limit, you can earn less than the maximum limit and stillreceive a benefit that very pretty close to the maximum.
Lets say your average earnings for 35 years amounted to 75%of the maximum limit. In this case, your benefit would equal 87% of themaximum.
If your earnings had been at 50% of the maximum taxableearnings amount, your benefit would still be 72% of the maximum benefit.
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Disorders That Qualify For Social Security Disability Benefits
In order to receive Social Security Disability benefits, you must have a disability that is recognized by theSocial Security Administration Blue Book. Some of which include:
- Musculoskeletal disorders, e.g., burns, craniofacial injuries, pathologic fractures
- Respiratory disorders, e.g., cystic fibrosis, asthma, respiratory failure
- Cardiovascular disorders, e.g., aortic aneurysm, ischemic heart disease, symptomatic congenital heart disease
- Digestive system disorders, e.g., inflammatory bowel disease , chronic liver disease
- Skin disorders, e.g., dermatitis, Bullous disease, burns
- Neurological disorders, e.g., cerebral palsy, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinsonian syndrome
- Mental disorders, e.g., schizophrenia, intellectual disorder, depressive, bipolar, or a related disorder
If you dont have a disorder or disability specifically noted by the SSA, you still have other options. With your medical records, including doctors notes, and other forms of documentation, the program might make an exception.
Fact #: Social Security Is Especially Beneficial For Women
Social Security is especially important for women, because they tend to earn less than men, take more time out of the paid workforce, live longer, accumulate less savings, and receive smaller pensions. Women represent more than half of Social Security beneficiaries in their 60s and 7 in 10 beneficiaries in their 90s. In addition, women make up 96 percent of Social Security survivor beneficiaries.
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Maximum Benefits Received If You Wait Until Age 70
If you retire before full retirement age, youll receive less money. The SSA figures youll be claiming benefits for a longer period of time, so they compensate by paying you less money each month. We generally advise that you wait until at least full retirement age to claim benefits. If you can put off retirement until age 70, thats even better, because youll be eligible for delayed retirement credits.
Delayed retirement credits are based on your date of birth and the number of months you delay taking retirement benefits. The chart explaining how much more youll get based on how many months you delay can be found here.
Your benefits go up by about .7% a month for every month you delay, up until age 70. So, if you retire at 67, your payout will be 108% of your monthly benefit, and if you wait until age 70, youll get 132% of your benefits. This lasts the rest of your life.
If you were to receive $1,000 at full retirement age, you would get $1,320 by waiting until 70. Thats a significant increase, so if at all possible, it really pays to wait.
Planning for retirement is confusing at best. You should talk to a Certified Financial Planner before deciding when to take benefits. A Certified Financial Planner from Retirable can take a look at your overall financial picture and can help you get the most out of retirement.
Social Security
How Long After You’re Approved For Disability Do You Get Your Money
There is a bit of a waiting period. Usually, it can take five months for benefits to get paid, with the first payment arriving the sixth full month after the date the SSA determined your disability began.
So, for example, if the SSA determined that your disability began on June 15, 2022, and you applied on July 1, 2022, your first benefit would be paid for the month of December 2022.
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How Is My Social Security Benefit Calculated
When the Social Security Administration calculates a person’s retirement benefit, they use the national average wage indexing series to index that person’s earnings. This helps to ensure the benefits reflect the general increase in standard of living that occurred during the person’s working lifetime.
- Social Security determines the year of first eligibility for benefits. Retirement eligibility age begins at 62. So, if a person turns 62 in the year 2022, then the year of eligibility is 2022.
- Next, Social Security indexes earnings to the average wage level two years prior to the year of first eligibility. So, for the person turning 62 in 2022, Social Security would index the earnings to the average wage index for 2020. In 2020, the average wage was $55,628.60.
- Social Security then multiplies the earnings in a year before 2020 by the ratio of $55,628.60 to the average wage index for that year.
Essentially, benefits are calculated by combining your 35 highest-paid years . These wages are indexed to account for inflation, and wages from previous years are multiplied by a factor based on the years in which the salary was earned and the year in which you reach age 60.
Then, the Average Indexed Monthly Earnings is computed by dividing the sum of all indexed wages by 420 . Other factors, such as when benefit collection begins, the age you’re retiring, and if you continue to work while collecting benefits, also impact your final calculation.
What If You Don’t Qualify For The Max Benefit
The reality is that the vast majority of seniors won’t be eligible for the maximum Social Security benefit, and that’s OK. You can still take steps to increase your benefits as much as possible.
For instance, maybe you can’t reach the maximum taxable earnings limit, but you can increase your income slightly. That alone will result in larger checks each month. Or maybe you can’t or choose not to delay benefits, but you can work at least 35 years before you claim. That, too, will make a difference in your monthly payments.
You don’t need to reach the maximum benefit amount to enjoy a comfortable retirement. By taking smaller steps to boost your Social Security, though, you can earn more than you might think.
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The Problem: The Economic Toll From The Pandemic Will Very Likely Affect Social Security Benefits
The initial retirement benefits that Social Security beneficiaries receive in the first year of retirement are determined by a formula that depends, in part, on the growth of average wages in the economy. Due to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the key measure of average wagesthe average wage index is very likely to decline in 2020. As a result, the initial retirement benefits for those who are first eligible to receive benefits in 2022when they reach the age of 62would be significantly less than what was anticipated only months ago, before the pandemic began to exact its economic toll. The effect is very likely to be so significant that workers turning 62 in 2022 would receive initial retirement benefits that are less than those of workers who were born a year earlier and who had essentially the same earnings history. This incongruity is what Social Security experts call a benefit notch. Such a notch would be unfair to the beneficiaries who turn 60 in 2020 and first become eligible to retire in 2022 because benefits are normally expected to grow for each successive cohort of retirees. Moreover, the benefit reduction and notch would have long-lasting consequences, as they not only would affect benefits in the first year of ones retirement but also lower them for every year going forward, as annual benefits are determined by adjusting the initial level for inflation.
The Source Ofand Solution Tothe Problem
When the current Social Security formula was put in place in 1977, no provision was made for the contingency that economic conditions would be so dire that average wages would fall in any given year. This problem first surfaced in 2009 during the Great Recession. The AWI, however, fell by a relatively small amount, and policymakers chose not to do anything about it. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the decline in the AWI is likely to be about four times as big now as it was during the Great Recession.
There is ample precedent for fixing this problem. The first precedent concerns Social Security cost-of-living allowances . As mentioned above, payments in years after beneficiaries first year of retirement are indexed to inflation using a version of the consumer price index . However, under the law, if prices fall in any year, benefits are not adjusted downward rather, they remain the same. The second precedent concerns the Social Security contribution and benefit base, also known as the taxable maximum. The taxable maximum is the dollar amount of annual earnings above which the Social Security payroll tax does not apply. The taxable maximum is indexed to the AWIbut like COLAs, it is never adjusted downward.
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What If I Delay Taking My Benefits
If you retire sometime between your full retirement age and age 70, you typically earn a “delayed retirement” credit for your own benefits . For example, say you were born in 1960, and your full retirement age is 67. If you start your benefits at age 69, you would receive a credit of 8% per year multiplied by two . This means your benefit would be 16% higher than the amount you would have received at age 67.
Here’s How Much Your Social Security Benefits Could Increase In 2023
In 2022, Social Security recipients got their biggest boost in four decades. Experts predict next year’s cost-of-living adjustment will be even higher.
Dan Avery
Writer
Dan is a writer on CNET’s How-To team. His byline has appeared in Newsweek, NBC News, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, The Daily Mail and elsewhere. He is a crossword junkie and is interested in the intersection of tech and marginalized communities.
As Americans continue to grapple with high prices, experts predict Social Security benefits will increase next year to keep up with inflation.
In 2022, seniors already saw the biggest boost in nearly four decades, thanks to an increase in the cost of living adjustment, or COLA. Starting in January, payments rose by 5.9%, or about $93 a month. As a result, the average beneficiary is now receiving $1,657 a month.
But the consumer price index was already up to 9.1% in June, far ahead of the adjustment Social Security accounted for, and it remained unchanged in July. The 2023 adjustment “will be one of the highest COLAs ever paid in the history of the program,” Mary Johnson, a policy analyst at the nonprofit Senior Citizens League, told the Detriot Free Press.
What will Social Security checks look like in 2023? When will seniors find out how much they’re getting? Read on to find out.
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