Your retirement age is the age you begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits. For many people, this is not the same age you’ll stop working.
The age you stop working can affect the amount of your Social Security retirement benefits. We base your retirement benefit on your highest 35 years of earnings and the age you start receiving benefits.
If You Stop Work Before You Start Receiving Benefits
If you stop work before you start receiving benefits and you have less than 35 years of earnings, your benefit amount is affected. We use a zero for each year without earnings when we calculate the amount of retirement benefits you are due. Years with no earnings reduces your retirement benefit amount.
Even if you have 35 years of earnings when you stopped working, some of those years may be low-earning years. When you file for retirement benefits, those years are averaged into your calculation, creating a lower benefit. However, if you had continued to work, your low earning years are replaced with your high earning years. Higher earnings increase your benefit amount.
If You Stop Work Between Age 62 and Your Full Retirement Age
You can stop working before your full retirement age and receive reduced benefits. The earliest age you can start receiving retirement benefits is age 62. If you file for benefits when you reach full retirement age, you will receive full retirement benefits.
If You Stop Work After Full Retirement Age
If you choose to work beyond your full retirement age, you have two options:
You can work and get full retirement benefits no matter how much you earn.
You can start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age
age
Most countries set the age of majority at 18, but some jurisdictions have a higher age and others lower. The word majority here refers to having greater years and being of full age as opposed to minority, the state of being a minor. The law in a given jurisdiction may not actually use the term "age of majority".
62. However, you are entitled to full benefits when you reach your full retirement age. If you delay taking your benefits from your full retirement age up to age 70, your benefit amount will increase.
You can get Social Security retirement benefits and work at the same time. However, if you are younger than full retirement age and make more than the yearly earnings limit, we will reduce your benefits. Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, we will not reduce your benefits no matter how much you earn.
For anyone born 1960 or later, full retirement benefits are payable at age 67. The chart on the next page lists the full retirement age by year of birth.
Social Security can potentially be subject to tax regardless of your age. While you may have heard at some point that Social Security is no longer taxable after 70 or some other age, this isn't the case. In reality, Social Security is taxed at any age if your income exceeds a certain level.
You can stop working and not begin receiving your retirement benefits. Deciding not to start your retirement benefits can make sense if you have other sources of income. If you stop working, your benefits will not increase because of additional earnings.
In the case of early retirement, a benefit is reduced 5/9 of one percent for each month before normal retirement age, up to 36 months. If the number of months exceeds 36, then the benefit is further reduced 5/12 of one percent per month.
The earnings limit increases (to $56,520 in 2023) for the calendar year in which you'll reach full retirement age. Starting in the month you hit your full retirement age, there is no longer an earnings limit. Your benefits will no longer be reduced regardless of how much income you have.
According to the SSA's Office of the Actuary, retired-worker beneficiaries who were 62 years old in December 2023 received an average check of $1,298.26. As for 67-year-old retired-worker beneficiaries, the average payout was a more robust $1,883.50.
Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.
SSDI payments are not affected by having a house, a car, money in the bank, or owning other possessions. On the other hand, many SSI clients are surprised to learn that assets do affect their benefits.
If you start taking Social Security at age 62, rather than waiting until your full retirement age (FRA), you can expect a 30% reduction in monthly benefits with lesser reductions as you approach FRA. Remember, FRA is no longer age 65: It's 67.
Social Security income can be taxable no matter how old you are. It all depends on whether your total combined income exceeds a certain level set for your filing status. You may have heard that Social Security income is not taxed after age 70; this is false.
But even if you never worked and therefore don't have an earnings record, you're not necessarily out of luck. If you're married (or were married) to someone who's entitled to Social Security, you can collect spousal benefits equal to 50% of your husband or wife's benefits at full retirement age.
You can start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. However, you are entitled to full benefits when you reach your full retirement age. If you delay taking your benefits from your full retirement age up to age 70, your benefit amount will increase.
If no changes are made before the fund runs out, the most likely result will be a reduction in the benefits that are paid out. If the only funds available to Social Security in 2033 are the current wage taxes being paid in, the administration would still be able to pay around 75% of promised benefits.
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