RE: First year rule I am retiring in March 2017 at age 62. I will be earning between $1000 and $2000 each month for January and February. How much can I earn between March and December? Is it $14100 for that 10 month period (irrelevant of how much I earn each month as long as it doesn't total more than $14100) OR is it no more than $1410 each month because of the first year rule? Thank you.

Hi,

Assuming that you start benefits effective March 2017, you can do either of 2 things without losing any of your benefits this year: 1) Earn no more than $16,920 for the calendar year of 2017 (i.e. January 1 thru December 31), or 2) Earn no more than $1410 in any month from March thru December 2017. You don't have to do both, just one or the other.

You may want to consider running the maximization software available on this website before starting your benefits. You may have better filing options available to you.

Best, Jerry