Retirement

How You Can Grow Your Social Security Benefits Beyond Retirement Age

November 30, 2017 • By

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Last Updated: November 3, 2023

man and woman outside on laptop For more and more Americans, reaching retirement age no longer means the end of an active working life. Many people are choosing to work past the age of 65, according to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

If you’re willing and able, maintaining gainful employment later in life could go a long way toward ensuring a secure future for you and your family. Besides providing you with additional income to pay your bills, extending your employment or working for yourself could boost your lifetime Social Security benefits.

Here’s how:

Whether you’re still working or not, waiting to claim your Social Security retirement benefits could grow them significantly. Through delayed retirement credits, your monthly benefit amount increases for each year you wait between your full retirement age and 70. Full retirement age is between 65 and 67, depending on when you were born. To learn more about delayed retirement credits, please visit our Retirement Benefits page.

You get credits on your earnings record for each year of additional work income. Once you start receiving retirement benefits, we’ll automatically review your earnings record each year to determine if you’re entitled to an adjustment. When we calculate your retirement benefit amount, we use your best 35 years of earnings. We’ll increase your benefit amount if your new year of earnings is higher than one of the years we used to calculate your initial benefit amount. To see how we calculate your benefits, see our publication, Your Retirement Benefit: How It’s Figured.

An increased benefit amount for yourself could mean more support for your family, too, through Social Security spousal benefits, child benefits, and survivor benefits.

We also encourage you to set up your own online my Social Security account so you can verify your lifetime earnings record, check the status of an application for benefits, and manage them after you’re receiving them. You can create your personal my Social Security account today.

Social Security is committed to helping you prepare for a secure today and tomorrow for you, your family, and future family. You can access all of our retirement resources on our Retirement Benefits page.

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About the Author

Jim Borland, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Communications

Jim Borland, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Communications

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Comments

  1. noushin m.

    I was wondering if I can get my late husband benefits as well.

  2. Evelyn H.

    I would like to know what my estimated social security will be at retirement age 66?

  3. Debra K.

    I will be 66 this year. I currently receive survivors benefits.
    Do I have to start my social security this year or can I still wait till I turn 70. How do I find out how much I will get at 70 if I wait>

  4. William H.

    I continue to work after receiving social security at 62. I was born in 1943 and elected to take early retirement. Do I qualify for increased benefits as I continue to work? I have not received any additional benefits after stsrting my social income .

  5. William d.

    I’ve been receiving ss,benefits but also working since I turned 65. I haven’t seen any increase in my benefits, I’m wondering why. can you please send me an answer.

  6. Kim T.

    I have been drawing my SS since I was 62 years old. I am now 70. I have been working part time and contributing to social security all that time. When I stop working all together will my SS check increase?

  7. Sally A.

    Although I am 77 I continue to work and pay into Social Security. I think some of the 35 yrs for calculation of my benefit are from when I was in high school and I had a part time job. I do not think that my benefit was recalculated for the past few years. How can I get a verification that a recalculation with more recent contributions? When I called on the telephone to inquire about that I just got lip-service; “It is done automatically”. I think we should entertain the possibility that an error was made. To whom should I address this problem?
    Thanks, Sally Anderson

  8. erwin b.

    I have been drawing SS benefits since 2004. Is it possible to delay payments and receive 131 % more SS Benefit at this point – 2018?

  9. Barry E.

    Thank you

  10. Dennis S.

    Why am I penalized by receiving a lesser SSA benefit simply because I worked for a government agency and paid into a pension plan?
    You did not take any less money from my checks for all the years I did pay into SS.
    I believes it’s called windfall profits?
    Profits for the SSA no me.

Comments are closed.