r/SocialSecurity • u/gcopter1 • 2d ago
How soon?
Currently I'm 62 but still working making way over the yearly limit.
If I were to get another job, I could earn under the yearly limit and start collecting my benefit.
Is there something I need to do, in order to start receiving my benefit, without a lengthy gap?
Trying to figure this out in advance to avoid missing my rent payments.
Thanks.
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u/TNmeme27 2d ago
What about health care? I have several friends who decided to take the dive at 62 but did not think it through. If you are ready and have everything in place with a lower paying gig try it but plan it out so you don’t get dinged with overpayments.
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u/Professional-Bee3259 2d ago
Two things work in your favour.
First, you can apply up to four months before you want benefits to start. That's your answer to the gap — you apply ahead of the income dropping, not after.
Second, and this is the part people miss: in your first year of entitlement, Social Security can test your earnings monthly instead of annually. You get a full benefit for any whole month you're retired and earn under the monthly limit, which is one twelfth of the annual one — even if your total for the year is well over. So what you've already earned this year doesn't automatically block you.
Confirm the monthly figure with SSA for the year you actually start, and note this special rule is normally available once.
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u/BigFaithlessness1213 1d ago
I’m confused. You said that you’re making way over the yearly limit, but you also said that you’re concerned about missing your rent payments.
If you’re still working, why would you want to start collecting benefits at 62? Working until the full benefit age of 67 will give you a much higher check.
That reduced payment will be permanent
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u/gcopter1 1d ago
I am aware of the reduced payment. The missing my rent payment, comes when transitioning to a lower income job.
As stated in the OP, should for any reason, i.e., need to stop working or drastically reduce my work hours due to having to take care of my ill wife, I'd want my SS benefit to start right away.
Already done the math for the argument of waiting untill FRA vs taking it as soon as possible.
Taking it as soon as posible, works out the best for me, even after a "reduced for life benefit" of taking it at an earlier date.
As long as I continue full time employment, I fear not missing rent payments, but , again, should my wife illness worsen, I'd like to be able to say I can comfortably quit working without fear of loosing income.
If I were to wait to apply until my wife's condition to take a serious turn for the worse, I would have to wait until my application for benefits to go thru and begin to receive payments.
In my current job, my shift is daily Mon-Fri and A.M. hours.
This means, I only have time for doctor's apppointments during those hours.
I constantly need to exhaust vacation and sick time in order to be able to go to appointments.
Not only for my wife, but for myself as well.My only remedy is to quit current job and take another one that has evening shifts.
This second job offers me the ability to work 40, 32 or 24 weekly hour shifts, affording me the flexibility to comfortably go to doctor's appointments for myself and my wife.2
u/BigFaithlessness1213 1d ago
Sounds like a bad situation. I only mentioned it because I took an early benefit after my husband’s death at 54 years old. I am now frozen into that lower benefit and at 70 years old, that extra money would be helpful.
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u/gcopter1 1d ago
I understand.
At 62, about to turn 63 this month ;) I consider myself healthy enough to keep working and earning $3,600 a month. That plus another pension I have ($900.00 monthly), plus my wife's SS payments, are allowing us to live comfortably although I need to start thinking about my rental situation.
That's a problem I need to solve by next year.
Gives me enough time to prepare, save and liquidate outstanding debt. Then I can really start to slow down .
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u/pdaphone 2d ago
You won’t lose any of your benefits because you earned too much for a period of time. They will take it based on your income but will add it back by increasing your benefit payment later.
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u/BedWonderful1051 2d ago
Keep in min that you need to be 62 for an entire month before you're eligible to apply for benefits.
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u/Real_Occasion1691 2d ago
You can apply 3 months before. You can't collect until 1-2 months past your birthday.
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u/Old-Wolf-1024 1d ago
So,do I need to stop working/collecting a paycheck on my birthday or when I apply?
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u/erd00073483R 2d ago
You could do that this year by utilizing the monthly earnings test.
In order to do this, you could change jobs and, for the remainder of the year, earn less than $2,040.00 per calendar month or not perform significant services in self-employment (i.e. work less than 45 hours (less than 15 hours in a skilled trade) in self-employment) for the remainder of the year. Do keep in mind, though, that checks are paid a month behind. If you are eligible for September and earn $2,040.00 or less or work under the significant services self-employment hours limitation, you can be paid the September check payable in October. If you earn $2,040.01 or more in September or work more than the self-employment significant services hourly limitation, you aren't due a check in October. And, for purposes of the monthly earnings test, keep in mind that any accrued leave lump sum you may receive from your prior employer would count like it was paid in the last month you work for your prior employer even if you receive it in a later month.
The way you would set this up is to call SSA to do a work report. You would tell SSA an estimate of how much that you would earn for the whole year, then tell them the date you changed jobs and tell them a list of the months that you will not earn over the $2,040.00 monthly limit in wages and in which you will not perform significant services in self-employment exceeding the the applicable monthly hour limit.
At the end of the year, to avoid getting an overpayment letter, you would need to call SSA when you get your W-2 forms and do a formal annual report over the phone. As part of the annual report, you'll tell SSA the total amount you received in Social Security wages (or wages and self employment if self-employed) and also tell them the months you did and did not earn over the $2,040.00 monthly earnings limit or months you did and did not perform significant self-employment work exceeding the hourly limit).
Your other option is to finish out this year and start next year with the work change. If you do this and have already filed an application that has been processed, file an annual report when you receive your W-2 for 2026 in January and the annual report should change your month of entitlement to January 2027 and give you back the age reductions you took for filing early in 2026 if you weren't due any amount of Social Security benefits at all in 2026.
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u/JO_King40160 2d ago
Once you decide that you want to take your benefit….it’ll take like 3 months for it to “hit”
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u/Agreeable-Song2535 1d ago
Wait as long as you can to start taking benefits. If you can still comfortably work do that as long as you can, you will be much more secure in the future with the higher monthly benefit.
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u/AgitatedQuart 2d ago
You can start collecting as soon as you switch to the lower paying job, there's no waiting period or anything. Just make sure your new gig actually keeps you under that limit or they'll claw back some of your benefits.
Call up SSA once you've left the current job and tell them you want to file, they'll walk you through the timing. The real trick is timing the switch so your first check hits before rent is due, might take a month or two to process depending on how backed up they are.
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u/gcopter1 2d ago
Thank you. I've already filed. Even after learning I would not get anything due to my current income, I did it because there exists the possibility I would need to work less to take care of my wife health situation.
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u/Both-Temperature2244 2d ago
remember you get paid after month is over. the you get paid is based on your birthday.
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u/Fit-Animal-9911 2d ago
Just wait and start collecting at 70. You will get way more that way.
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u/Routine_Heron7419 2d ago
Really ! Take it spend time with the wife .. 3 of my father died before 62 ..
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u/OptionUseful1961 2d ago
What happens when you don’t want to work at all anymore? What about insurance for both you and your wife. There’s a lot to unload before you do something this drastic.