Social security question

[Anonymous]

I looked up my social security benefits.

I have enough credit to get social security.

The document says I'll receive X amount if I earn at least Y amount each year until my age of retirement.

But, what if I want to retire before that? Will the years of earning ZERO lower the overall amount I receive from social security?

[Anonymous]

I believe they still take an average of some number of your highest earning years to calculate the amount.

[Anonymous]

SS counts your 35 highest-earning years to figure out your payment. Years with no income count as zero and do count into the average, so they work against your total.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the years of earning zero will impact your AIME (average indexed monthly earnings) but your benefit probably won't be impacted that much since the Social Security formula is so progressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SS counts your 35 highest-earning years to figure out your payment. Years with no income count as zero and do count into the average, so they work against your total.

Unless she’s already over 35 years. I’m 49 and am already.

Also, FWIW, OP the effect is minimal—<$100/month on the max payout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SS counts your 35 highest-earning years to figure out your payment. Years with no income count as zero and do count into the average, so they work against your total.

Unless she’s already over 35 years. I’m 49 and am already.

Also, FWIW, OP the effect is minimal—<$100/month on the max payout.

The estimated SS that OP is asking about assumes that the wages will continue to increase. So the current 35 years might include years where OP was earning minimum wage or a much lower percentage of the max social security wages. So you are wrong here. Yes OP has enough where there will be no zeros in the calculation. But the quarters will likely include well more of lower percentage wages than the quarters as OP ages and gets closer to retirement. The only way it won’t count against OP is if OPs wages are much lower now than when OP was younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I looked up my social security benefits.

I have enough credit to get social security.

The document says I'll receive X amount if I earn at least Y amount each year until my age of retirement.

But, what if I want to retire before that? Will the years of earning ZERO lower the overall amount I receive from social security?

Yes. However, the impact will be negligible since income earned long ago will have a higher weight relative to income earned now and in the future. There's a website somewhere that walks you through how the number is calculated..

[Anonymous]

Find the calculator. There's a way to manually enter future income at zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the years of earning zero will impact your AIME (average indexed monthly earnings) but your benefit probably won't be impacted that much since the Social Security formula is so progressive.

Okay. Thank you.

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Find the calculator. There's a way to manually enter future income at zero.

Thanks! I’ll look for that and check it out.

I also found a model where you can enter info and calculate the best time to start taking payments. The answer was sooner than I would have chosen, which is good news.

I never counted SS as part of my retirement plan so it’s like extra money for me. I also never learned much about how it worked until now, which I do not recommend. I’m lucky I won’t really need it, I guess.

[Anonymous]

One more question.

My SS benefit form indicates I earned zero one year when I did have earnings. I’ve not had luck finding where I would sort this out.

Does anyone know where corrections can be submitted?

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One more question.

My SS benefit form indicates I earned zero one year when I did have earnings. I’ve not had luck finding where I would sort this out.

Does anyone know where corrections can be submitted?

OP

Best to visit them. Take your W2 for that year. Call them first and see if you can fax it in. Things may have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One more question.

My SS benefit form indicates I earned zero one year when I did have earnings. I’ve not had luck finding where I would sort this out.

Does anyone know where corrections can be submitted?

OP

Do you think it makes a difference OP?

Social Security is SO HARD to talk to. I wouldn't even bother if the one year didn't affect anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One more question.

My SS benefit form indicates I earned zero one year when I did have earnings. I’ve not had luck finding where I would sort this out.

Does anyone know where corrections can be submitted?

OP

Do you think it makes a difference OP?

Social Security is SO HARD to talk to. I wouldn't even bother if the one year didn't affect anything.

I’m not sure how to tell if it makes a difference or not. Is there an online calculator that will help me get the answer?

There is a lot I don’t know about how SS works, so I could easily be missing something obvious.

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SS counts your 35 highest-earning years to figure out your payment. Years with no income count as zero and do count into the average, so they work against your total.

Unless she’s already over 35 years. I’m 49 and am already.

Also, FWIW, OP the effect is minimal—<$100/month on the max payout.

The estimated SS that OP is asking about assumes that the wages will continue to increase. So the current 35 years might include years where OP was earning minimum wage or a much lower percentage of the max social security wages. So you are wrong here. Yes OP has enough where there will be no zeros in the calculation. But the quarters will likely include well more of lower percentage wages than the quarters as OP ages and gets closer to retirement. The only way it won’t count against OP is if OPs wages are much lower now than when OP was younger.

I understand what estimated SS OP is asking about. The post below yours has the accurate answer.

The additional years of high earnings make very marginal impact in late career. In my case, about $100/mo for continuing to work thru 66 vs retiring at 58—not collecting at 70 in either scenario.

It doesn’t count AGAINST her, but it doesn’t do that much for her either.