Hi Larry,

I just turned 62 and not working right now. If I start working part time and make significantly less money than what I was making full-time will that affect the amount on my current Social Security calculation. I don't plan to take early Social Security but I read that SS will recalculate your monthly SS payment if your earnings are reduced before you take your SS.

Hope that makes sense?

Thanks in advance.

Hi. You can't reduce your Social Security retirement benefit rate by working part-time. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings. Any years of earnings that aren't among a person's highest 35 earnings years are simply disregarded when calculating their benefit rate. So, if you work part-time you won't reduce your eventual benefit rate, but you probably won't increase your rate like you may have if you had continued working full time.

Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) includes a benefit calculator that you can use to determine what effect your projected future earnings would have on your benefit rate, so you may want to use the software to do your Social Security planning.

Best, Jerry