does anyone know if disability has the same rules?? my brother is on SSDI and thinking about trying part time work

Just wanted to add one more thing that helped me when I went through this - make sure to keep detailed records of your last day of work and any final payments. I created a simple spreadsheet tracking my earnings by month for 2025, which made it much easier when SSA asked for documentation later. Also, if you do decide to move your retirement date up to May 31st like you mentioned, double-check that you won't lose any employer benefits (like health insurance coverage) by leaving a few weeks earlier. Sometimes there are month-end cutoffs for benefits that could affect your transition to Medicare eligibility. One last tip: when you call SSA to discuss your situation, ask them to put notes in your file about the conversation. This creates a paper trail that can help if there are any issues later with the earnings test calculation.

I'm so confused about all this FRA stuff!!! Is that the same as the retirement age? I'm 62 and thinking about taking my benefits early but I'm still working part time at Walmart. Will they reduce my benefits? I make about $22,000 a year.

I'm in a similar boat - just turned 66 and still working part-time as a nurse. Can confirm what others have said about no benefit reduction at FRA! I've been collecting my full $2,400/month while earning about $30k from my nursing shifts. The SSA doesn't care how much you make once you hit your FRA. One thing I learned the hard way though - definitely plan for the tax hit. Between my SS benefits, part-time income, and some retirement account withdrawals, I ended up owing way more than expected last year. Now I have taxes withheld from my SS payments (10% federal) and make quarterly payments. Also watch out for the Medicare IRMAA increases if your income gets too high - that caught me by surprise too. Bottom line: work as much as you want at FRA without worrying about benefit reductions, just plan for the tax implications!

UPDATE: I finally spoke with someone at SSA! You all were right - they still had me classified as receiving disability benefits even though I've been on retirement benefits since February. The representative was actually very helpful once I explained the situation and showed that I had documentation of my retirement application approval. They're expediting the correction and said my benefits should resume with the next payment. They're also processing the back payment for this month. Thank you all SO MUCH for your help in figuring this out! I would have been completely lost without your advice.

So glad you got this resolved! This is such a perfect example of why it's so important to understand the difference between disability and retirement benefits - the rules are completely different. Your story will definitely help others who might run into this same system mix-up. It's crazy how often SSA's records don't get properly updated when people transition between programs. Thanks for posting the update!

One thing that might help put this in perspective - you can actually run some rough calculations yourself before calling SSA. Take your 19 years of earnings (you can find these on your SSA statement), add 16 zeros, then divide the total by 35 to get your average. That average gets put through SSA's benefit formula to determine your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). Since you were earning $160k annually, even with those zeros factored in, you're probably looking at a pretty decent benefit. The formula is progressive, meaning lower earners get a higher percentage of their average earnings replaced, but higher earners like yourself still get substantial dollar amounts even at the lower replacement percentages. The key thing to remember is that your high earnings years will help offset those zeros more than you might expect. Someone who worked 35 years but had many low-earning years early in their career might not be that much better off than your situation.

I went through a similar situation when I retired at 62 after working only 23 years. The key thing that helped me was understanding that Social Security uses your "indexed earnings" - meaning they adjust your past earnings for inflation before calculating your benefit. This actually works in your favor since your $160k earnings from several years ago are worth even more in today's dollars when they run the calculation. Also, don't forget that you can still earn credits if you decide to do any part-time work before claiming benefits. Even a small amount of earned income can replace some of those zero years if it's higher than your lowest earning years. I did some consulting work for a couple years specifically to bump up my calculation, and it made a noticeable difference in my monthly benefit. The my.ssa.gov estimate is pretty accurate, so definitely check that first. But calling SSA is still worth it to understand all your options, especially given your caregiving situation.

UPDATE: I called this morning and used the terms you all suggested. Asked specifically about "excess spousal benefits" and "dual entitlement" while keeping my own record. The representative seemed to understand right away! She looked up my case and said there was confusion because I had checked the wrong box on a previous form which made it look like I wanted to switch to spousal benefits completely. She's sending me a new form to fill out, and she made notes in my file about what I'm actually requesting. I also asked to see the calculation once they do it to make sure everything is correct. Thank you all so much for the correct terminology! I feel much more confident now that they understand what I'm asking for.

Congratulations on getting through to someone who understood! That's such a relief after all the confusion. Your experience really shows how important it is to use the correct SSA terminology - "excess spousal benefits" and "dual entitlement" seem to be the magic words that get their attention. It's also really smart that you asked them to make notes in your file about what you're requesting. That should help prevent future mix-ups if you have to call again or deal with different representatives. When you get that new form, take your time filling it out and maybe even call back to confirm you're checking the right boxes before submitting it. After all the hassle you've been through, you want to make sure this gets processed correctly the first time! Keep us posted on how the calculation turns out - your experience could really help other people in similar situations.