Do I Get Back Money Social Security Withholds Because I Work?

Social Security is withholding money from my retirement benefit because I' m still working Will I get that money back

Yes, but not in a tidy lump sum. What Social Security does instead is increase your benefit when you reach to account for the previous withholding. Full retirement age, or FRA, is when you become eligible for 100 percent of the benefit amount calculated from your lifetime earnings. (FRA is 66 and 4 months for people born in 1956 and will gradually rise to 67 over the next few years.) If you file before that, Social Security lowers the percentage of the benefit amount. During this “early retirement” period you also if you and your earnings exceed an annual limit. In 2022 the cap is $19,560, and you lose $1 in benefits for every $2 in earnings above it. When you reach FRA, Social Security will begin making up for the withholding by giving you credit for the months when you lost benefits. Suppose you turn 62 in 2022 and claim Social Security. Your monthly benefit is $1,200 and you earn $25,000 annually through a part-time job. For the year, Social Security withholds $2,720 from your payments (half of the $5,440 by which you topped the earnings limit). That works out to 2.3 months of benefits lost, which Social Security rounds up to three. Now suppose you continue to lose three months of benefits a year until you reach full retirement age — that's 67 for people like you who were . That works out to an estimated 15 months of withheld benefits. When you hit FRA, Social Security will reset your benefit as if you’d filed 45 months early rather than 60. (The difference, if you’re keeping score, is that you get 70 percent of your “full” benefit at 60 months early, 76.3 percent at 45 months.) The extra years you worked will further boost your benefit payment if they rank among your 35 highest-earning years. This will increase your lifetime average for monthly income, the figure that is the basis of your , in turn raising your benefit amount.

Keep in mind

The earnings limit only applies if you are under full retirement age. Social Security does not withhold any money from your benefits if you keep working after FRA. You won’t see the boost from that benefit reset immediately after your FRA date. Social Security will start the higher monthly payment the following January. Updated March 7, 2022

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