Social Security at FRA while working part-time - income limits and application timing question

Great news! Once you reach your Full Retirement Age (FRA), you can earn unlimited income without any reduction in your Social Security benefits. The earnings limit only applies before you reach FRA. So when you hit 66 years and 10 months in February, you can work as many hours as you want at the garden center while collecting your full SS benefit. As for timing your application, I'd recommend applying about 3 months before you want benefits to begin, so around December would be ideal if you want March 1st payments. The first payment would actually arrive in April, as Social Security is paid a month behind. The application process is pretty straightforward online and usually takes 30-60 minutes to complete if you have all your information ready.

Congrats on reaching FRA! Just wanted to add that your first payment might not be exactly on March 1st. SS payments come on different days depending on your birth date. Check the SSA payment calendar to see your exact payment date.

Be CAREFUL with this!! Just because you hit FRA doesn't mean everything is automatic!! You actually have to APPLY for benefits - they don't just start sending you money when you turn 66 and 10 months!!! I learned this the hard way and lost 8 months of payments because I thought it was automatic. The SSA doesn't backpay if you apply late!!! And good luck getting anyone on the phone to help you with questions - I spent THREE DAYS trying to get through to a real person last month!!!

I had the same situation last year when I reached my FRA and was still working part-time. After you hit FRA, there are absolutely no earnings limits. I actually increased my hours afterward and now work almost full-time while collecting my full SS benefit. It's been great for my finances. For filing, I'd recommend applying online about 3 months before February. The online process is pretty straightforward but getting answers to specific questions can be challenging. When I needed clarification on some details about my ex-spouse's benefits, I was stuck in phone limbo for days. I eventually used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a Social Security agent in under 10 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Totally worth it when you need specific answers about your situation that aren't clear from the website.

My husband went thru this last year and you get conflicting info from different sources sometimes. Once you reach FRA there's NO limit on earnings (good!) but remember your SS benefits might be taxable depending on your combined income. If you're married filing jointly & your combined income (including half of SS benefits) exceeds $44,000, up to 85% of your benefits could be taxed. Also FYI your first payment comes the month AFTER your eligibility month, and they pay a month behind. So if your eligible in Feb, your February payment comes in March. But its all explained in the application process.

my mom just went through this whole thing and its super confusing!! she applied like 4 months before her birthday and still had problems. something about her birth certificate being too old or something?? anyway the payments did start on time but there was a lot of back and forth with ssa

I hvae a question related to this. Im turning 65 next month but my FRA is 67. Do I still sign up for Medicare now even if I'm not taking SS yet? And is there an earnings limit if I take SS early at 65 but keep working part time?

Just wanted to add that when you apply online, make sure you have your bank account info handy for direct deposit. Makes things way faster than waiting for checks. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I feel much better about continuing my garden center job now that I know there's no earnings limit after FRA. I'll definitely apply in December for my February FRA date to make sure everything's processed in time. And I'll check that payment calendar to see my actual payment date. Really appreciate all the advice!