Hi Larry, I'm 64 years old and I'm going to start collecting my deceased husbands SS benefit this year, while continuing to let mine grow. I still work and earn about 30,000 a year, I know I can only earn 17,040 without penalty. If I contribute more to my 403B will that reduce my income, so I can receive more of his benefit?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Sherry

Hi Sherry,

The amount that Social Security will count for earnings test purposes (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html) is the amount of your wages that are subject to Social Security taxes. Since Social Security taxes are generally withheld from all of your wages immediately whether or not they are deferred for income tax purposes, I don't believe that contributing more to your 403(b) plan would reduce your countable earnings for purposes of the earnings test. Truthfully, though, I'm not that familiar with 403(b) plans so you may want to double check with your payroll office.

Best, Jerry