Social Security benefits after semi-retirement at FRA - will reducing work hours affect my payment amount?

You're in a really good position actually! Since you've already reached your Full Retirement Age (66), your benefit amount is calculated using your highest 35 years of earnings, not just your most recent years. The SSA takes these earnings, adjusts them for inflation, and uses the top 35 to determine your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). If you've worked 35+ years already, these final lower-earning years might not affect your calculation at all if they don't replace any of your top 35. And even if they do enter the calculation, the impact would be minimal since it's averaged over 35 years. Plus, for every year you delay claiming past your FRA up until age 70, you earn Delayed Retirement Credits of 8% per year. So waiting to file could actually significantly increase your monthly benefit regardless of your current part-time status.

wait but doesnt ss use your last 5 years? my brother inlaw said thats how they figured his payment. he worked part time his last 3 years and his check is really small now

I did EXACTLY what you're planning!!! Cut back to 20 hours at 65, then fully retired at 67. Let me tell you what happened with MY benefits. First - my benefit amount wasn't hurt AT ALL by working part time those years! The SSA agent told me since I already had 38 years of full-time work, those part-time years didn't even factor into my calculation because they weren't in my highest 35. Second - I waited until 68 to file and got an EXTRA 16% on my monthly payment because of those delayed retirement credits!!! Best decision I ever made. DON'T WORRY about working part-time after FRA. Enjoy your semi-retirement!

Getting accurate information from Social Security can be extremely frustrating. I tried for WEEKS to get someone on the phone when I was in a similar situation last year. Kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual SSA agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Once I actually spoke with someone, they confirmed that working part-time after FRA wouldn't reduce my benefit amount. The agent explained everything about how the 35-year calculation works and how the delayed retirement credits increase your payment by 8% for each year you wait after FRA. Definitely worth getting official confirmation for your specific situation rather than worrying about it.

I think there's a bit of confusion in some of these responses. Part-time work CAN affect your benefit amount if those earnings replace higher earnings in your top 35 years. For example, if you had some years early in your career with very low earnings (or no earnings), then these part-time years might actually be HIGHER than those early years, even after inflation adjustment. In that case, these part-time years would actually INCREASE your benefit amount by replacing those lower years. Conversely, if all your previous 35 years had higher inflation-adjusted earnings than these upcoming part-time years, then working part-time would have no effect on your benefit calculation. Since you're already at FRA, there's no earnings limit to worry about. You could even start collecting benefits now while continuing to work if you wanted to.

When I semi-retired, I got totally confused about all this stuff and almost made a huge mistake by claiming early! Remember that delaying your claim until 70 gives you the maximum possible monthly benefit for life - an 8% increase for EACH year you wait after FRA. That's a guaranteed 32% boost if you wait from 66 to 70! Also, don't forget to consider taxes. Working while collecting SS can make up to 85% of your benefits taxable depending on your combined income. Something to factor into your decision about when to claim.

My dad tried doing the semi-retirement thing and Social Security totally messed up his payments. They kept sending him letters about overpayments and underpayments. The system is broken and they can't handle anything that doesn't fit their rigid categories. Just be prepared for a bureaucratic nightmare if you go this route!

Thank you all for the incredibly helpful responses! I feel much more confident about my plan now. Just to summarize what I've learned: 1. Since I'm at FRA, working part-time won't trigger any benefit reductions 2. My benefit calculation uses my highest 35 years, so these part-time years probably won't impact my amount 3. Waiting to claim until 68-70 gives me a significant boost (8% per year) regardless of my current work situation 4. I should consider the tax implications of working while collecting I think I'll stick with my original plan to work part-time for a couple years, but I'll definitely look into getting confirmation from SSA about my specific earnings history. Thanks again everyone!

Great summary Sean! You've got a solid understanding now. One additional tip from my own experience - when you do eventually contact SSA to review your earnings record, ask them to show you your "earnings record" (Form SSA-7005) which lists all your years of earnings. This will help you see exactly which years are in your top 35 and whether any future part-time earnings might actually replace lower years from early in your career. Also, you can create a my Social Security account online at ssa.gov to view your earnings history and get benefit estimates anytime. It's really helpful for planning and you don't have to wait on hold! The online calculator will show you exactly how your benefits would change if you claim at different ages. Sounds like you're making a smart, well-informed decision. Enjoy your semi-retirement phase!