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!

Just want to add one important detail that might help others - if you're working past 70 and want to track whether your earnings are likely to increase your benefit, you can check your Social Security Statement online at ssa.gov/myaccount. It shows your earnings history year by year, so you can compare your current salary to your historical earnings (though remember they index older earnings for inflation in the actual calculation). I found this helpful for estimating whether continuing to work would be financially beneficial beyond just enjoying the job itself.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm 68 and in a similar situation - still working and wondering about the financial impact of continuing past 70. One thing I learned from my HR department that might help others: if you're still employed and have access to payroll, you can sometimes get a projection of your annual earnings early in the year to help plan. I use this along with checking my Social Security Statement online to roughly estimate which of my lower-earning years from the 1980s and 1990s might get replaced. It's not perfect since the SSA does complex inflation adjustments, but it gives me a ballpark idea of whether the extra work years will meaningfully boost my benefit. The consensus here seems clear that SSA will keep recalculating after 70, which is great news for those of us who had some lean years early in our careers!

As someone who just turned 69 and is still working, this entire discussion has been incredibly valuable! I've been getting conflicting information everywhere I looked. What really stands out to me from all these responses is that the SSA keeps two separate processes: the delayed retirement credits (which stop at 70) and the earnings recalculation (which continues indefinitely). I think a lot of the confusion comes from people mixing these up. I'm particularly grateful for the practical tips about checking the Social Security Statement online and getting earnings projections from HR. My situation is similar to many here - I had about 6-7 years of very low earnings in my twenties when I was in graduate school and just starting my career. At my current salary, I'm confident those years will get replaced. The October timing for recalculations is also really helpful to know - I'll be watching for changes then. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!

Welcome to the community, Aisha! I'm also relatively new here but have found this to be such a helpful resource for navigating Social Security questions. Your situation with the stay-at-home parent years sounds very similar to mine - I had about 5 years of zero or very minimal earnings when my kids were young. It's reassuring to see from everyone's experiences that those early low-earning years can definitely be replaced by current higher earnings, even after 70. One thing I've learned from this thread is to keep good records of when you notice any benefit increases, since SSA doesn't send notifications about automatic recalculations. I'm planning to set a reminder for next October to check my payment amounts carefully. Best of luck with your research and planning!

As someone who's been researching this topic extensively, I wanted to add another resource that might help. The SSA's publication "How Work Affects Your Benefits" (Publication No. 05-10069) has a section specifically about post-70 earnings and benefit recalculations. You can download it from their website or request a paper copy. What I found particularly useful is that it includes examples of how the recalculation works with actual dollar amounts, which helped me understand the potential impact better than the general explanations I found elsewhere. The document also clarifies that there's no limit to how many times your benefit can be recalculated - it happens automatically every year you have earnings that would improve your calculation, regardless of your age. For those still confused about the timing, the recalculation typically shows up in your December payment (reflecting the October processing that others mentioned). Hope this additional resource helps!