Hi Larry,
I received my letter BNC#21B2493B85006-T about taking benefits at full retirement age 66 and 2 months.
My question is this:
If I take my benefits now BUT keep working and contributing will I automatically get a rate increase in the next year? Or is it locked in?
I am a bit confused. Thank you,
Hi. Yes, you can potentially increase your Social Security retirement benefit rate if you continue working after you claim benefits, but your benefit rate will only increase if your subsequent annual earnings are higher than one or more of the highest 35 years of wage-indexed earnings that are currently being used to calculate your benefit rate. Social Security automatically recalculates benefit rates to include such earnings, so you shouldn't need to do anything to receive any increases to which you're entitled.
The Social Security benefit calculator included in our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) allows you to enter future projected earnings so that you can gauge the effect that those earnings would have on your future benefit rate. You may want to strongly consider using the software to do your Social Security planning.
Best, Jerry