Retirement

How You Can Grow Your Social Security Benefits Beyond Retirement Age

November 30, 2017 • By

Reading Time: 2 Minutes

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. Linda H.

    I can’t seem to find or get an answer to my question. I have a WEP adjustment in my SS benefit. I started my benefit at my FRA with a WEP reduction. However, I am working and each year I am recomputed to adjust my AIME. Does my WEP reduction at bend point one adjust as well?

    Thanks

    • V.V.

      Hi Linda, thank you for your question. If you have 30 or more years of substantial earnings, we don’t reduce the standard 90 percent in our benefit formula. However, if you have 21 to 29 years of substantial earnings, we reduce the 90 percent factor to between 45 and 85 percent. Each year that you work and pay into the Social Security system could result in an adjustment to the formula depending on your total wages for the year. Substantial earnings in 2018 is $23,850 or more. You can find a table that lists the amount of substantial earnings for each year at the bottom of the second page of the Windfall Elimination Provision fact sheet.

  2. sarah l.

    how much can I earn if I am already getting ss I am already 67

    • V.V.

      Hi Sarah, thank you for the question. When you reach full retirement age, your earnings no longer reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn.

      Also, as long as you continue to work and receive benefits, we will check your record every year to see whether the additional earnings will increase your monthly benefit. If there is an increase, we will send you a letter telling you of your new benefit amount.

      For more details, visit our Getting Benefits While Working web page.

  3. Larry W.

    My wife will turn 62 in September of 2018. I will turn 68 this September also. I have been receiving my full SS benefits for over a year. Can she collect 1/2 of my SS benefits as my spouse and continue to work full time? Is there a limit to how much she can earn and still collect 1/2 of my SS benefits?
    Can she continue to grow her own SS benefits until she reaches full retirement age of 66 years and 4 months.

    • V.V.

      Hi Larry, thanks for reading our blog. Your wife may be able to get spouse’s benefits but, under existing law, if she is eligible for benefits both as a retired worker and as a spouse, she must apply for both benefits and she’ll receive the higher of the two. This requirement is called “deemed filing” because when you apply for one benefit you are “deemed” to have also applied for the other. See our Retirement Planner: Recent Social Security Claiming Changes for more information.

      Your wife can work and receive Social Security retirement benefits; however, because she’s younger than full retirement age, there are earnings limits. For 2018, the yearly limit is $17,040. If she’s retiring in the middle of the year and has already earned more than the yearly limit, there is a special rule that applies to earnings for one year. Under this rule, she can get a Social Security benefit for any whole month that she is “retired” and earning $1,420 or less. She can use our earnings test calculator to see how her earnings could affect her benefit payments and our Getting Benefits While Working web page.

  4. Vivian A.

    I want all the money I worked and paid into the system and was entitled too. I took an early retirement (63) because I had open heart surgery at (62) and suffer with other medical conditions. I retired as a teacher the last 19.5 yrs of my working career. I was told that because I had a pension from my teaching years I couldn’t receive my full SS payment the “spend-down” law put in place by the addle-brain fool Ronald Regan. This is unfair for people like me who paid in faithfully for my 40 quarters plus and when we get old and sick we are then penalized. Isn’t my health a factor in calculating my benefits especially once I reached full retirement age (67)?

    • R.F.

      A pension based on work that is not covered by Social Security (for example, Federal civil service and some State or local government agencies) may cause the amount of your Social Security benefit to be reduced. Your benefits can be reduced based on one of two provisions: The Windfall Elimination Provision & The Government Pension Offset.

  5. LINDA B.

    I am now 70 years old and am still working and just star5ed collecting SS benefits. I understand that I can no longer increase my benefit each quarter. Explain please, then, how do I get paid for income that I have no yet received, but the work has been completed? This is a continual process for me, where I do work but do not receive compensation for up to 3-6 months afterward. Deferred compensation. This will continue until I die, wh8ch means my annual income WILL be going up with each job I undertake. Please explain.

    Respectfully,

    Linda

  6. James G.

    What are the members of congress paid when they leave there position, due to retirement or not re-elected?
    Do these members receive special insurance and other special perks inasmuch as they can have control of these benefits?jame

  7. Audrey T.

    I want to know about my social security statement

    • R.F.

      Hello Audrey, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions web page for information on this topic. Thanks!

  8. Margaret M.

    Hi, I reached full retirement age this April 2018 and began drawing spousal benefits beginning in April of this year. I am considering changing my claim to begin receiving my own retirement benefits and plan to continue working until the age of 70. My question is this: if i choose to make this change, would my ss benefits continue to increase at an 8% rate each month while working and drawing social security benefits?

    • R.F.

      Hello Margaret. Social Security retirement benefits are increased by a certain percentage (depending on date of birth) -ONLY- if you delay your retirement (on your own record), beyond full retirement age up to age 70. See Delayed Retirement Credits for more information.
      Please speak with a Social Security representative as soon as possible, before making any decisions. You can call our toll free number at 1-800-772-1213. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Generally, you will have a shorter wait time if you call later during the day or later in the week. Thanks!

  9. Lili S.

    My husband and I both work. My husband started receiving his monthly benefit when he reached 70. I started to use 50 percent of his monthly benefit (benefit at his 65). When I start to use my benefit at age 70, do I get the amount at my age 70 or the age I started to use his benefit, which was 65?

    • R.F.

      Hi Lili, based on the information you’re providing, you will be getting your delayed retirement credits when you switch to your own retirement benefits. Thanks!

  10. Chris T.

    I’ve learned at the Recreation Center where I attend that seniors are afforded the opportunity to participate in a program called, “Silver Sneakers”. Does Medicare provide or provide eligibility for this program? If so, how and where do I join?

    • R.F.

      Visit Medicare.gov for information on this topic. Thanks!

Comments are closed.