Will Social Security benefits decrease if I retire at 55 and never work again?

Yes, your benefit amounts will likely be lower than what you're seeing in your mySocialSecurity account. Those estimates assume you'll continue working at roughly your current income level until the age you claim benefits. When you stop working at 55, you'll have zeros added to your earnings record for those years between 55 and when you claim. Social Security calculates your benefit based on your highest 35 years of earnings (adjusted for inflation). If you don't have 35 years of work, they fill in the missing years with zeros. So retiring at 55 means those additional potential earning years will be zeros instead of income. How much it affects you depends on how many years you've worked so far and how your current earnings compare to your past earnings. If you already have 35 solid earning years, the impact might be minimal. If not, it could reduce your benefit amount more significantly.

just had a similar situation. retired last yr @ 56. checked my ssa account again recently and yeah benefits went down some. not a ton but noticeable. think mine dropped maybe 10% from what they said before

Your current SSA benefit estimate assumes you'll continue working at the same income level until you claim. When you stop at 55, several things happen mathematically: 1. Your AIME (Average Indexed Monthly Earnings) calculation will include more $0 years since SSA uses your top 35 earning years. With only 30 years of work history, you'll have 5 zeros in the calculation. 2. Your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) is based on your AIME, so it will be lower than currently estimated. 3. The reduction percentages for early claiming (at 62) or the delayed retirement credits (for waiting until 70) still work the same, but they're percentages of a lower starting number. I would expect a reduction between 10-20% from current estimates, depending on your specific earning history pattern. The SSA has a detailed calculator called the "Retirement Estimator" that can give you a more precise number by analyzing your actual earnings record.

Yes, working part-time between 55-62 would definitely help! Any year where your earnings would replace a $0 year or a lower-earning year in your top 35 will improve your benefit calculation. Even modest part-time income could make a difference, especially if you don't already have 35 years of earnings.

@profile5 - That's not accurate. Part-time work cannot mathematically lower your Social Security benefit amount. The calculation simply takes your highest 35 years of indexed earnings. If your part-time earnings are higher than $0 (which would be used if you weren't working at all), then they can only help your benefit calculation, not hurt it. What your neighbor may have experienced is either: 1. The earnings test if she was working and claiming benefits before her Full Retirement Age 2. Confusion about estimates vs. actual benefits 3. Something unrelated affecting her benefits But additional earnings that replace a $0 or lower-earning year in your top 35 will always increase your benefit calculation, even if those earnings are from part-time work.

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! I'm going to: 1. Check out the Retirement Estimator tool on the SSA website 2. Consider some part-time work between 55-62 to fill in some of those zero years 3. Factor in about a 15% reduction from current estimates for my retirement planning to be safe I think I'm still on track for early retirement, but I'll need to adjust my expectations about the SS portion of my income. Really appreciate all the insights!

This thread is super helpful for me too! I'm in a similar boat but I'm 51 looking to retire at 56. Just wanted to mention that I called SSA last year about this exact issue and the rep told me that if you have 35+ years already, retiring early doesn't hurt as much. But if you have high earnings now that would replace lower earnings from early in your career, then stopping work early means those lower earnings stay in your calculation. In my case, I started working at 18 so I'll have 38 years by 56, but my earnings in the last decade are WAY higher than my early years, so I'm probably going to work a couple extra years to replace those pizza delivery earnings from college lol.

One other factor to consider: the Social Security statement estimates are based on today's dollars and current formula. Congress occasionally makes adjustments to the benefit formula, and there's been talk of potential changes given the program's long-term funding issues. Not trying to worry you, but since you're planning to claim benefits 9+ years from now, be aware that there could be some program changes by then. Most proposals for changes would affect higher-income earners more than lower-income, and would likely be phased in gradually.