Hi Larry i started collecting social security 2020 at 68 still working untill July 9 2021 and stop working .My ss benefits i recived $ 1865 from september last 2020 year until 1 april 2021 ,Now because last year incomei get ss increased to $ 1989,Last week i recived from my company check( severance pay + vacations) in total amounts $64,733.should i get next year higher ss benefits ,i got in total 36 years /in 1992 i earn only $ 1.782,so this ear income will replace 1992 year lowest income,please explain that to me.i lost recently job because company closed business.any additional penny will help to survive.thanks Jacek

Hi Jacek. I can't tell you how much your 2021 earnings might increase your benefit rate, but any increase caused by your 2021 earnings wouldn't be effective until your payment for January 2022. Also, your 2021 earnings will only increase your benefit rate if your Social Security covered earnings this year are higher than the amount of your wage-indexed earnings in one of the years currently being used to calculate your benefit rate.

By the way, the recent increase in your benefit rate from $1865 to $1989 almost certainly wasn't solely due to your 2020 earnings. More likely, if you started drawing your benefits in any month of 2020 other than January, you would have been eligible for a recomputation effective with January 2021 to credit additional months of delayed retirement credits (DRC). If you start drawing benefits between FRA and age 70, Social Security initially only gives you credit for any delayed retirement credits (DRC) that you earned through December of the year prior to the year you start collecting. Any DRCs earned in the year that you start drawing are subsequently credited effective with your payment for January of the year after the year you claimed benefits.

Now that you've apparently already received credit for all of the DRCs you earned, any increase in your benefit rate starting next year that results from your 2021 earnings will likely be much smaller than the increase you recently received. The exact amount of increase would depend mainly on how much higher your 2021 earnings were than the amount of wage-indexed earnings credited in the lowest of your previous highest 35 wage-indexed earnings years (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300605021).

Best, Jerry