Social Security benefit recalculation after high-income year - why no update in October?

The SSA doesn't use your 2025 earnings for recalculation until NEXT October (2026). They're working with a one-year delay. So this October (2025), they're just now incorporating your 2024 earnings into your benefit calculation. Did you have significant earnings in 2024 compared to the years used in your original calculation?

i went thru this same thing last year. they dont tell u when they do the recalculation it just shows up one day. mine didnt change til like november 10th, and even then it was only like $23 more a month. dont get ur hopes up for a huge increase

The Social Security Administration's annual earnings recomputation happens in October, but there are several important things to understand: 1. As mentioned, there's a one-year lag - your 2025 earnings won't be factored in until October 2026 2. Any increase won't appear in your account immediately in October - it can take several weeks for the systems to update 3. You'll receive a notice in the mail about any benefit adjustment 4. The increase (if any) will be retroactive to January of the current year 5. Remember that only your highest 35 years of indexed earnings count toward your benefit calculation If your 2024 earnings weren't significantly higher than one of your existing 35 calculation years, you might see little to no increase. The earnings have to replace a zero or very low-income year to make a meaningful difference.

My husband had this same question last yr. The SSA doesnt use current year earnings, only last year's. And even when they do adjust it sometimes the amount is so small you barely notice!!! The whole system is frustrating.

I waited THREE MONTHS for my recalculation to show up after a high-earning year! Called SSA repeatedly and got nowhere - busy signals or disconnected after waiting 2+ hours!! Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual SSA agent in less than 20 minutes. The agent confirmed my recalculation was processing but delayed due to a backlog. Totally worth checking their video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU if you need to actually speak with someone at SSA without wasting your entire day.

There are actually multiple things happening here that no one has fully explained: 1. SSA uses a process called Automatic Earnings Reappraisal Operation (AERO) for these recalculations, which typically runs in October 2. The AERO calculations use last year's earnings (2024 in this case), not current year 3. The actual adjustment to your payment won't happen immediately - typically takes 4-6 weeks after the AERO run 4. Any increase is retroactive to January, so you'll get a small "catch-up" payment 5. For the increase to be substantial, your 2024 earnings need to be high enough to replace one of your current 35 highest indexed earnings years If you worked your highest-earning year in 2025, as you mentioned, you won't see that reflected until October 2026. And remember, the higher your existing benefit, the less impact a single good year will make.

Thank you all for the helpful explanations! I understand now that: 1. The October 2025 recalculation is looking at my 2024 earnings, not 2025 2. My 2025 high-earnings year won't be factored in until October 2026 3. The update may take several weeks to appear in my account 4. I should receive a notice in the mail if there's any change 5. Any increase will be retroactive to January 2025 I'll be patient and wait to see if my 2024 earnings ($42K) make any difference, though it sounds like it might be minimal. Next year should be more interesting when my $87K gets factored in! This has been really educational - thanks again for taking the time to explain.

my neighbor said she had to REQUEST a recalculation it wasnt automatic for her. anyone else have that problem??

I'm confused about something... If we have to wait a year for earnings to be added, how does SSA know what we earned? Do they get it from our tax returns or from employers directly? And what if there's a mistake in what's reported?

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is that if you're still working and earning wages while collecting Social Security, you should also be aware of the earnings test implications. Since you mentioned you started collecting at your full retirement age (67), the earnings test doesn't apply to you anymore - which is good! But for anyone reading this who started collecting early, high earnings can temporarily reduce benefits. Also, @Caesar Grant, when your 2025 earnings do get factored in next October, the impact could be quite significant since $87K is likely much higher than many of your earlier career years. The indexing formula SSA uses tends to favor more recent high-earning years, so you might see a nice bump in 2026. Just remember that the maximum taxable earnings for Social Security in 2025 is $176,100, so your $87K will definitely count fully toward your calculation.

I'm going through a similar situation right now! Started collecting at 67 last year and have been wondering about the recalculation process. This thread has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea about the one-year delay or that increases are retroactive to January. One thing I'm curious about: does anyone know if there's a minimum threshold for how much your new earnings need to exceed an old year before they'll replace it in the calculation? I had a decent year in 2024 but I'm not sure if it's high enough to bump out one of my existing 35 years. My earnings history has been pretty inconsistent over the decades. Also, for those who have been through this process - do you get any kind of detailed breakdown in the mail notice showing which year got replaced and what the new calculation looks like? Or is it just a simple "your benefit is now $X" notification?

This whole thread has been such a learning experience! I'm 64 and considering when to start collecting my benefits, and reading about the automatic recalculation process is really helpful for planning. It sounds like continuing to work after starting benefits at full retirement age can actually be beneficial in the long run, even if you don't see the impact immediately. One follow-up question for those who've been through this: if you have a really good earnings year like Caesar's $87K, and it does end up replacing a much lower year from your calculation, is the benefit increase permanent going forward? Or does SSA ever "re-evaluate" and potentially reduce benefits in future years? I'm trying to understand if working those extra high-earning years creates a lasting improvement to your monthly payment. Also, has anyone noticed if the timing of when your employer reports your W-2 to the IRS affects when the recalculation happens? Some employers are faster than others getting tax documents submitted.

This is such a comprehensive discussion! As someone who's been navigating Social Security for a few years now, I wanted to add one important point that might help others: if you're in a similar situation and want to get a sense of whether your recent earnings will make a meaningful difference, you can use the SSA's online benefit calculators to run some estimates. The Retirement Estimator on mySocialSecurity lets you plug in hypothetical earnings to see how they might affect your benefit calculation. While it won't give you the exact penny-precise amount (since it doesn't account for all the indexing complexities), it can give you a rough idea of whether that good earning year is likely to boost your monthly payment significantly or just by a few dollars. Also, for anyone still working while collecting benefits: don't forget that you're still paying Social Security taxes on those earnings, so you're essentially "buying" potential future increases to your benefit. Even if the immediate impact seems small, those higher earnings years can compound over time if you continue working and having good years that replace lower ones from your calculation. The patience required for this system is frustrating, but it's encouraging to see how helpful this community is in explaining the process!

I'm new to this community but found this discussion incredibly helpful! I'm 62 and trying to decide whether to start collecting early or wait, and understanding how the recalculation process works is really important for my planning. One thing I'm wondering about - for those of you who continued working after starting benefits: do you find that the psychological aspect of waiting a full year (or more) to see the benefit of your hard work reflected in your monthly payment affects your motivation to keep earning at higher levels? I imagine it could be discouraging to have a great earning year and then have to wait so long to see any financial benefit from it. Also, I'm curious if anyone has experience with how this process works if you're self-employed? I assume the same AERO timeline applies, but I'm wondering if there are any additional complications since self-employment taxes and reporting can be more complex than W-2 wages. Thanks to everyone who has shared their knowledge here - this is exactly the kind of real-world information that helps make sense of such a complicated system!

As someone who's been collecting Social Security for about two years now, I wanted to share my experience with the recalculation timing since it seems to be a common source of confusion. When I first started getting benefits, I also expected to see immediate updates after good earning years. What I learned is that the system is designed around tax year cycles - SSA literally can't use your 2025 earnings until the IRS has processed all the 2025 tax returns, which doesn't happen until well into 2026. The silver lining is that when your $87K does get factored in next October, it's likely to make a much more significant difference than your 2024 earnings will this year. High earnings in recent years can be particularly impactful if you have some lower-earning years from earlier in your career that they'll replace. One tip I wish someone had told me: keep good records of your yearly earnings even after you start collecting benefits. It makes it easier to estimate potential increases and spot any errors in SSA's records. The mySocialSecurity portal is great, but having your own documentation helps too. The waiting is definitely the hardest part, but the automatic nature of AERO means you don't have to worry about filing forms or missing deadlines - it just happens behind the scenes each October.

This has been such an incredibly informative thread! As someone who just turned 65 and is still on the fence about when to start collecting, reading through everyone's experiences with the AERO recalculation process has really helped me understand the timing and mechanics involved. What strikes me most is how the system is actually quite logical once you understand the delays - it just operates on a completely different timeline than most people expect. The fact that SSA has to wait for IRS data processing explains the one-year lag, and knowing that any increases are retroactive to January helps offset some of that waiting period. For those still working while collecting (or considering it), it sounds like the key insight is that patience pays off - literally. Even though you don't see immediate results from high-earning years, those earnings are building toward permanent benefit increases that will last for the rest of your life. I'm particularly grateful for the practical tips shared here - using the online calculators to estimate impacts, keeping personal earnings records, and understanding that the process is automatic so you don't need to worry about missing forms or deadlines. This is exactly the kind of peer-to-peer knowledge sharing that makes these complex government programs more understandable. Thank you to everyone who took the time to explain their experiences!

As someone who just started collecting Social Security this year at 66, this entire discussion has been a goldmine of information! I had no idea about the one-year delay in the AERO process or that benefit increases are retroactive to January. I'm in a somewhat similar situation - I had a strong earning year in 2024 and am wondering what to expect. Reading through everyone's experiences, it sounds like the key is managing expectations and understanding that this is a marathon, not a sprint. The fact that the system automatically handles everything is reassuring, even if the timeline feels slow. One thing I'm curious about that I haven't seen addressed: does anyone know if there are any circumstances where the automatic recalculation might NOT happen? I'm wondering if there are edge cases where someone might need to manually request a review of their earnings record. Also, for those who have received the mail notification about benefit adjustments - does it come around the same time the change appears in your online account, or is there typically a delay between when you see it online versus getting the official notice? Thanks to everyone who has shared their knowledge here. This community is incredibly helpful for navigating these complex processes!

This thread has been incredibly educational! As someone who's 63 and planning my Social Security strategy, I had no idea about the AERO process or the one-year delay. Reading through everyone's experiences really clarifies why my neighbor was confused when her recalculation didn't happen immediately. I'm particularly interested in the point about high earning years being more impactful if you have some low years in your history. I had several years in my 20s and 30s where I barely worked due to raising kids, so I'm hoping my recent higher-earning years will help replace those zeros when I eventually start collecting. One question for the group: if someone has a mix of regular employment and freelance/contract work in the same year, does that complicate the AERO calculation at all? I've been doing some consulting work alongside my regular job and want to make sure everything gets properly credited to my earnings record. Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge here - this is exactly the kind of practical information that's so hard to find elsewhere!

Reading through this entire thread as a newcomer has been incredibly enlightening! I'm 68 and just started collecting my Social Security benefits a few months ago, but I'm still working part-time. I had no idea about the AERO process or the one-year delay until I found this discussion. What's really helpful is seeing how patient everyone has been with the system's timeline. I was getting frustrated wondering why my recent earnings weren't immediately reflected in my benefits, but now I understand it's all about the IRS data processing cycle. The fact that any increases are retroactive to January is definitely a nice surprise I didn't know about. One thing I'm wondering - and maybe someone with experience can weigh in - is whether the mySocialSecurity portal gives you any indication when your earnings record gets updated with the previous year's data? I'd love to be able to track when my 2024 earnings show up so I have a better sense of the timeline for next year's potential recalculation. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences here. This kind of peer knowledge is so much more valuable than trying to decipher the official SSA websites!