Taking a part time job after retirement but BEFORE social security

[jdwoodside]

Hello,

Currently I'm 60. I plan to be winding down soon and quit my current job in perhaps a year. I don't plan on taking social security until 67-70. I've been on the social security website and have run their calculators to see how my benefit would be affected if I don't work at all from 61 on. I was surprise that it wasn't reduced very much. My question is if I took a part-time job "for fun" where I made a tiny fraction of my before retirement pay, would that help or hurt my social security benefit when I finally do begin taking it?

Thanks so much! Just found this site and I have to say quite timely!

[cathy63]

Social security is based on the 35 years in which you earned the most money. If you don't already have 35 years of contributions, or if some of them are very low earning years, like from high school jobs, then taking a part-time job now will increase your benefit by a very small amount.

[jdwoodside]

Thanks cathy63. I'm good then. Currently I have 37 years of full time employment. So if I took a part time job that made $15,000/yr and my first full time job back in 1980 paid me $13,000/yr, then I come out ahead?

[bw5972]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdwoodside Thanks cathy63. I'm good then. Currently I have 37 years of full time employment. So if I took a part time job that made $15,000/yr and my first full time job back in 1980 paid me $13,000/yr, then I come out ahead?

Actually no, the 13,000 from 1980 would likely count more. Each years earnings is factored by how the average wage then (1980) compares to the average wage at a point in time 2 years prior to your first year of eligibility.

For me, 2021 target SS year, 1980 earnings would have a factor of 4.5372487 so I would need a current year of 58,983 to beat out 13,000 in 1980.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/awifactors.html.



“An individual's earnings are always indexed to the average wage level two years prior to the year of first eligibility. Thus, for a person retiring at age 62 in 2017, the person's earnings would be indexed to the average wage index for 2015 (48,098.63). Earnings in a year before 2015 would be multiplied by the ratio of 48,098.63 to the average wage index for that year; earnings in 2015 or later would be taken at face value.”

[euro]

As bw5072 says, it likely won;t help, but it also won't hurt

[braumeister]

You can use the calculator from the SS website and enter your earnings from every year you've worked (also available on their website in your account). Then enter the earnings you might expect to make from your part time job in this and future years until you decide to take SS.

Your result will most likely be within a few dollars of what you'll actually receive.

Your SS account (sign in if you have one, create an account if you don't):
https://secure.ssa.gov/RIL/SiView.do

SS calculator;
https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/anypia.html

[joeea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdwoodside My question is if I took a part-time job "for fun" where I made a tiny fraction of my before retirement pay, would that help or hurt my social security benefit when I finally do begin taking it?

You can never hurt your social security benefit by working. Even if your fun job were unpaid, your benefits will never be reduced.

Go and have fun. And don't worry about your social security. It will be increased due to COLAs and Delayed Retirement Credits, and waiting there for you when you decide to start claiming.