How You Can Grow Your Social Security Benefits Beyond Retirement Age
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: November 3, 2023
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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Tags: my Social Security, my Social Security account, retirement, retirement benefits, Social Security benefits, SSA, survivors benefits
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Jim Borland, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Communications
Jim Borland, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Communications
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Faith M.
I am inquiring about Silver Sneakers benefits for Health Club membership. I was informed that I might qualify because I am 65 yrs. old and have Medicare insurance.
I am still working and have not yet started receiving Social Security.
Pease inform me how I can find out more information about Silver Sneakers or some similar program.
Faith Morgan
R.F.
Visit Medicare.gov. Thanks!
Clinton D.
I have worked as an Adjunct Prof. part- time, for the last 24 years. I am 85 and wonder if the accumulation of these wages will help increase my monthly benefits? No one year compares to my highest yearly earnings, back in the day, (smile).
Thank you
R.F.
Hello Clinton. Each year, we review the records for all working Social Security recipients to see if additional earnings may increase their monthly benefits.
When you apply for retirement benefits, we base your benefit payment on your highest 35 years of earnings and your age when you start receiving benefits. If your earnings for the prior year are higher than one of the years we used to compute your retirement benefit, we will recalculate your benefit amount.
If an increase is due, a new monthly benefit amount is established on your record automatically. See “Getting Benefits While Working” for more information. Thanks!
Richard D.
I am 71 years of age and still working. The amount that I receive for 2019 is based on my 2016 income tax return.
My 2017 tax return has been filed but Social Security did
not consider it in calculating how much I should receive in my Social Security benefits for 2019.
Can I bring my 2017 tax return to a Social Security office
and have it factored in to how much I receive in 2019?
V.V.
Hi Richard, thank you for your question. To determine your 2019 income-related monthly adjustment amounts, we use your most recent federal tax return the IRS provides to us. Generally, this information is from a tax return filed in 2018 for tax year 2017. Sometimes, the IRS only provides information from a return filed in 2017 for tax year 2016. If we use the 2016 tax year data, and you filed a return for tax year 2017 or did not need to file a tax return for tax year 2017, call us at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday or visit any local Social Security office.
Vicki E.
If you are receiving social security from the age of 63, were born in 1953 and decide to go back to work, earning lest than 17000.00 a year does the amount of your ss benefits get reduced?
V.V.
Hi Vicki. Thank you for your question. The amount you’re allowed to earn depends on your age. If you attain full retirement age (66) in 2019, the earnings limit is $46,920 but we only count earnings before the month you reach full retirement age. Beginning with the month you reach full retirement age, earnings no longer reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn. If you’re under full retirement age for the entire year of 2018, then we deduct $1 from benefit payments for every $2 earned above the annual limit. For 2018, that limit is $17,040.
Visit our Retirement Planner: Getting Benefits While Working and our Retirement Earnings Test Calculator. Hope this helps!
Patricia J.
I need to know if earnings from a non-profit company negatively reflects my monthly retirement from SSA?
V.V.
Hi Patricia. Thank you for your question. The amount you’re allowed to earn depends on your age. If you attain full retirement age (66) in 2018, the earnings limit is $45,360 but we only count earnings before the month you reach full retirement age. Beginning with the month you reach full retirement age, earnings no longer reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn. If you’re under full retirement age for the entire year, then we deduct $1 from benefit payments for every $2 earned above the annual limit. For 2018, that limit is $17,040.
Visit our Retirement Planner: Getting Benefits While Working and our Retirement Earnings Test Calculator. Hope this helps!
Shirley H.
I am 67 years old and take spouse’ 50% SSB now, and I plan to take my own SSB when I reach 70.
(1). If I still work and continuously earn $100,000 per year, would my SSB next year get reduced, or increased? How much? And after I reached 70 and take my own SSB, would my SSB after 70 increased because of this $100k earning per year?
(2). After I reached 70, If I still work and earn $100,000 per year, would my SSB increased after 70?
R.F.
Hello Shirley. If you work and are full retirement age or older, the amount you make at work will not affect your Social Security benefits, no matter how much you earn.
If you’re receiving survivors benefits, the additional earnings could help make your retirement benefit higher than your current survivors benefit.
Please keep in mind that the benefit increase no longer applies when you reach age 70, even if you continue to delay taking benefits.
We have a variety of other calculators to help you plan for the future. Which calculator you choose depends on what you want to do.
Each year we review the records for all working Social Security recipients. If your earnings for the prior year are higher than one of the years we used to compute your retirement benefit, we will recalculate your benefit amount. We hope this information helps!
Maria J.
Is there away to increase my monthly payments if I have not worked since retirement?
V.V.
Hi Maria. The Blog Post How You Can Grow Your Social Security Benefits Beyond Retirement Age covers the various ways one can increase their retirement benefit.
Elizabeth J.
What is the amount I can earn without changing my SS benefits?
V.V.
Hi Elizabeth. Thank you for your question. The amount you’re allowed to earn depends on your age. If you attain full retirement age (66) in 2018, the earnings limit is $45,360 but we only count earnings before the month you reach full retirement age. Beginning with the month you reach full retirement age, earnings no longer reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn. If you’re under full retirement age for the entire year, then we deduct $1 from benefit payments for every $2 earned above the annual limit. For 2018, that limit is $17,040.
Visit our Retirement Planner: Getting Benefits While Working and our Retirement Earnings Test Calculator. Hope this helps!
Kathy D.
Many of my acquaintances received an SSI increase in 2017 for this year (2018), while I did not…if anything a penny or a dime (?). Was that an error? Any increase that might come my way would be welcome with an open heart (and an MS body).
+
V.V.
Hi Kathy, thank you for your question. All Social Security beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income recipients automatically received a 2.0 percent cost-of-living adjustment beginning January 2018. Check out the Cost-of-Living Adjustment web page for more details.
Phil H.
thank you for making this information available for everyone. I look forward to reading all the information I can find about social security.