Hi Larry! Just finished your revised book. Love how you readers can get a clearer understanding of SSA rules from you, vs them. Sad on the one hand--but so very helpful!!

I am retired and cannot earn more than the annual earnings limit until I'm over 62 (for internal pensioner rules with my ex-employer; I receive a monthly SS supplement as part of my pension until age 62 and I'll lose that if I earn more than the SSA's annual earning limit till I hit 63).

I retired at 59 and now my SSA earning will show $0 unless I go back to work and get a dollar figure to replace the zeros--earnings that I would cap at the annual earnings limit until I'm 62. My highest earning years were my last 5 years of employment. Question: Will my SS benefit be reduced if I do not go back to work and continue to get zeros on my SS profile until retirement age? I don't plan to collect benefits till FRA (67) or 70.

Also, since my spouse earns around $2,300 of SS a month now, will I never be able to exceed that family limit the SSA sets as a married spouse?

Hope this is clear!
Thanks.
Barbara

Hi Barbara. Your benefit rate won't go down if you don't go back to work, it just won't go up. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings, so if you don't return to work your benefit rate will be based on your highest 35 years to date. If you have fewer than 35 years of Social Security covered earnings, though, then zero earnings years will be included and will drag down your average.

For example, a person can qualify for Social Security retirement benefits with the equivalent of as few as 10 years of covered earnings. But, if the person only worked in 10 years, their earnings in those years would still be averaged over 35 years. Averaging in 25 zero earnings years obviously lowers the per year average and the resulting benefit rate. Additional years of covered earnings would knock out some of those zero years and increase the person's benefit rate, but not returning to work wouldn't cause their benefit rate to go down.

The family maximum benefit (FMB) won't limit either your or your husband's benefit rates assuming that no children are drawing benefits on your accounts. The FMB simply limits the amount that can be paid on any single individual's account when auxiliary or survivor benefit are involved. There's no set limit on the amount that a couple can receive when they are each being paid benefits based on their own work records.

You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry