I have 29 years of social security substantial earnings and am receiving benefits which started after my normal retirement age of 66. I am retiring from my non-social security covered job next year. I plan to work part-time in a social security covered job and will exceed the substantial earnings requirement. Will social security credit my account then so I have 30 years of earning and no reduction in my benefit? Or did the "clock stop" when I started receiving benefits?

Hi,

Yes, your Social Security benefit rate can be recalculated and potentially increased following any year in which you earn more than you did in one of your previous highest 35 years of wage indexed earnings. If you only had 29 years in which you paid Social Security taxes on your earnings, then 6 zero earnings years would have been used when calculating your current benefit rate. Replacing any or all of those zero years with future years of Social Security covered earnings would certainly increase your benefit rate to at least some degree. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) allows you to enter projected future years of earnings so that you can gauge the effect that those earnings would have on your benefit rate.

There's no way that you could reduce your benefit rate by working, but if you qualify for and start drawing a pension from employment where your earnings were exempt from Social Security taxes then your benefit rate could be reduced due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). For more information on WEP, refer to the following Social Security publication: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf.

Best, Jerry