If I take early retirement at 62, can I work in my self employed job and base my income off net income for the year instead of monthly for social security purposes? By the time I take deductions, I'll be around 18,000 to 20,000 net.

Hi,

For Social Security earnings test purposes, your countable earnings is your gross wages or net earnings from self-employment (NESE). Therefore, if you're self-employed only, Social Security would count your net self-employment earnings for the calendar year. The 2019 earnings test exempt amount for people age 62 is $17,640, so if your NESE is between $18K - $20K in 2019, Social Security would need to withhold $1 of your benefits for each $2 that your NESE exceeds $17,640 (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html).

Before deciding when to start drawing your benefits, you should strongly consider using our software to explore and compare your options so that you can choose the best possible strategy for claiming your benefits.

Best, Jerry