Will Social Security payments I'm making while working after retirement increase my WEP-reduced benefit?

Yes, those earnings can potentially help! Social Security recalculates your benefit annually to check if your recent earnings would increase your benefit amount. If your current earnings are higher than one of the years used in your original calculation, they'll replace that lower year and adjust your benefit upward. Since you're subject to WEP, it gets a bit more complex. If you can eventually get to 30 years of "substantial earnings" under Social Security (about $28,050 for 2025), the WEP penalty will be eliminated completely. Each year of substantial earnings you add (even after starting benefits) can help reduce the WEP penalty. Are you also aware that you're subject to the earnings limit since you're under Full Retirement Age? For 2025, if you earn over $22,320, they'll withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above that limit.

ur not throwing money away!! my husband was a firefighter with pension and had same issue. worked at home depot after retiring and his ss check went up $104 after 2 yrs. they do annual recalculatons every fall i think. dont worry about the earnings limit if ur making under 22k, ur fine

I was in almost EXACTLY your situation!!! Taught for 22 years in Ohio (non-SS state) and had about 15 years of SS covered work. Started SS at 62 and got hit HARD by WEP. My initial benefit was only $870!!! Here's what happened to me: I worked part-time at a garden center for 3 years after taking early SS. Each year my benefit went up a tiny bit - like $18-25 per year. Not life-changing but better than nothing. The annual recomputation is real but the increases are modest unless you're earning significantly more now than in your past. The REALLY IMPORTANT thing I learned: if you get to 20 years of substantial SS earnings, WEP reduction is less severe. At 21+ years it keeps improving. You don't need the full 30 years to see SOME improvement. Might be worth seeing if you can gradually build more substantial earnings years.

To answer your specific question about substantial earnings: Yes, you must earn the FULL substantial earnings amount for the year to count toward reducing WEP. For 2025, that's $28,050. If you earn $28,049, it doesn't count as a year of substantial earnings for WEP purposes - there's no partial credit. However, even earnings below that threshold will still be included in your benefit recalculation if they replace a lower year or a zero year in your calculation. So they help in that way even if they don't count toward reducing WEP. Also important: you mentioned working 22 hours weekly at a bookstore. Make sure you're aware that once you reach Full Retirement Age (66+), the earnings limit goes away completely and you can earn unlimited amounts without any reduction in benefits.

Has anyone actually gotten through to SSA lately? I've been trying for WEEKS about my own WEP issue and can't get a human. Just endless holds and disconnects. So frustrating!!!!

my cousin worked for ssa for 30 yrs and she always said the wep is the most complicated thing they deal with!! even the agents get confused about it sometimes lol. just keep working and saving ur money dont count on ss to save u

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information! I'm going to try to increase my hours at the bookstore to see if I can get closer to the substantial earnings threshold, though $28,050 might be a stretch for part-time work. Even if I can't eliminate the WEP completely, it sounds like there's still value in continuing to work and pay into Social Security. I'll be keeping track of my earnings more carefully now that I understand how this works. And I might try that Claimyr service to finally speak with someone at SSA and get information specific to my situation. Really appreciate all the advice!