I plan to take early retirement at 62 in 2019.My birthday is 6/25/57.How much money can I earn in 2019. I get paid 1099.Does my limitation on income include the full calendar year,or is it calculated and prorated from 06/25/2019 ?

Hi,

Since you receive a 1099 rather than a W-2 form, I assume that your earnings are reported as self-employment. Therefore, your net earnings from self-employment would need to be $17640 or less for the calendar year of 2019 in order for you to be due all of your benefits this year. The annual earnings test exempt amount is based on your calendar year earnings, and it's not prorated even if you only claim benefits for the last part of a year.

However, there is a alternate monthly retirement test which could be used if it's more advantageous to you. That test would permit you to be paid for any month in which you devote no more than 45 hours to your self-employment, regardless of how much you earn in the calendar year (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/rule.html). Either the annual earnings test or the monthly test may be used in the first year that you claim benefits, and Social Security would end up using whichever test would enable you to be paid more benefits for the year.

Before deciding when to file for your benefits, you should strongly consider using our software to compare your filing options so that you can be sure to choose the best possible strategy for claiming your benefits.

Best, Jerry