How much will Social Security benefits increase by replacing 5 zero-income years with $80k earnings?

You can check this on the SSA calculator online. Its not exactly a simple calculation bc it takes all your lifetime earnings into account but replacing 0 years will definitely help!

To give you a rough estimate, replacing 5 zero-income years with $80k earnings could increase your monthly benefit by approximately 10-15%. This is because Social Security uses your highest 35 years of earnings (indexed for inflation) to calculate your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME), which then determines your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). If you currently have 5 zeros in your calculation, replacing them with substantial earnings will definitely improve your benefit. The exact amount depends on your overall earnings history, but I'd expect your $1,650 to increase to somewhere between $1,815-$1,900 per month. You can get a more precise estimate using the detailed calculator on the SSA website (not the quick calculator): https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/anypia/anypia.html

my brother did something similar. had like 6 or 7 zero years and went back to work. his benefit went up almost $300 a month! but he was making over 100k so yours might be a bit less. good luck!

I'm in a similar situation and spent HOURS trying to get through to someone at SSA who could explain this clearly. After getting disconnected three times and being on hold for 2+ hours, I finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real SSA agent in under 20 minutes. The agent walked me through my specific calculation and explained how new income would impact my benefit. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The SSA agent told me that each zero year I replaced added about 2-3% to my monthly benefit, which sounds similar to what others are saying here. For 5 years, that could be 10-15% increase.

The impact will depend on where those $80k years would rank in your top 35 years of earnings. Social Security applies an inflation adjustment to your past earnings (called indexing), so $30k earned in 1990 might be equivalent to $80k today in the formula. That said, replacing 5 zeros with substantial earnings will definitely help. Your benefit is calculated using a formula that gives you: - 90% of your first $1,115 of AIME - 32% of your AIME between $1,115 and $6,721 - 15% of your AIME over $6,721 If your current AIME puts you in the 32% bracket (which is likely based on your estimated benefit), then replacing zeros could give you a nice boost. The 10-15% increase mentioned by others sounds reasonable, which would be an extra $165-$247 per month. If you want to see exactly how this works with your earnings record, you need to create a my Social Security account and download your earnings history, then use the detailed calculator.

wouldn't it be better to work longer than 5 years if you can? like what if you worked 7 years instead at 80k?

I just went through this EXACT same situation last year!!! I had 4 zero years and went back to work making about $75k. When I checked my SS statement online after a year, my monthly benefit at FRA went up by about $120. So for you with 5 years and slightly higher salary, maybe you'd see $150-200 increase? Just my experience tho, YMMV. BTW the way they calculate this stuff is CRAZY complicated. I tried to understand it and just gave up lol. The bend points and indexing and all that made my head spin!!!

dont forget taxes tho. if ur making more money your ss benefits might get taxed more when u retire! something to think about

Has anybody else noticed their estimated benefit on the SS statement change a lot from year to year even when nothing major changed in income? Mine jumps around and makes me nervous about planning.