Social Security earnings recalculation after 70 - will high income years still replace low ones?

I was in almost the exact same situation last year. Yes, the SSA will continue to recalculate your benefits even after age 70 if you're still working and replacing lower income years. I worked until 73 and got a nice little bump in my benefit amount. The confusing part is that the recalculation happens automatically - they don't send you a notice saying 'hey, we increased your benefit because you're still working' - it just shows up as a higher payment. Keep an eye on your bank deposits or MySocialSecurity account to notice the changes.

My dad thought the same thing but he kept working til 74 and never saw any increase in his ss payments. i think it depends on how much ur making now vs back then???

This is actually a really good question! YES, the Social Security Administration will continue to review your earnings record and automatically recalculate your benefit if appropriate, even after age 70. There's no age cutoff for this recalculation. The key thing to understand is that your benefit is based on your highest 35 years of earnings (indexed for inflation). If your current work income is higher than any of those 35 years, it will replace a lower year and potentially increase your benefit amount. The annual recalculation happens automatically in the year following your additional earnings, usually around October. You won't need to request this - SSA does it automatically when they receive your earnings information from tax records.

Your benefit stops increasing from delayed retirement credits at 70 but DOES continue to be recalculated if your recent earnings replace lower years. Just to be clear, it's two separate things: 1) delayed retirement credits (stop at 70) and 2) recalculation based on new earnings (continues for life).

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW MUCH THE ACTUAL INCREASE WOULD BE??? I'm 71 and still working making about $75,000 but SSA keeps giving me the runaround about whether it's worth it financially!! Some agent told me it would only be like $20 more per month even though I'm replacing years when I made like $12,000!! The whole system is designed to confuse us!!

I struggled with getting clear answers about this too! If you need to speak with SSA directly, I found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an agent in under 15 minutes when I was researching this exact question. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - basically they hold your place in line and call you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of frustration and I finally got a detailed explanation of how the recalculation would affect my specific situation.

my neighbor works at ssa and says they only look at the last 35 years not your whole life

I kept working until 74 and my benefit went up about $175/month from when I was 70. But remember you're also paying FICA taxes on those earnings with no additional delayed retirement credits. Do the math for your situation to see if it makes financial sense.

After reading through all these comments, I just wanted to summarize the key points for anyone else with this question: 1. Yes, SSA continues to recalculate benefits based on new earnings AFTER age 70 2. Recalculations happen automatically, usually in October of the following year 3. You'll only see an increase if current earnings replace a lower year in your top 35 4. This is separate from delayed retirement credits, which stop at 70 5. The actual increase depends on your specific earnings history Hope that helps!