Will Social Security recalculate my benefits automatically after working part-year before claiming at 62?
I started collecting Social Security retirement benefits in September 2024 at age 62 after working full-time for the first 8 months of the year. Since then, I've been working part-time staying carefully under the monthly earnings limit ($1,840 I think?). I'm wondering when/if my benefit amount will be automatically recalculated to include those additional earnings from 2024? I had some really good income those first 8 months that should boost my benefit amount a bit. Will this happen automatically after I file my 2024 taxes? Or do I need to contact SSA and request a recalculation? I'm not worried about any overpayment issues since I've tracked my monthly earnings religiously - just wondering about getting credit for those months I worked before filing. Thanks for any help!
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Omar Fawaz
Yes, the SSA will automatically recalculate your benefit amount after they receive your W-2 information from the IRS, typically in the late summer or fall following the tax year. This is called an Automatic Earnings Recomputation Operation (AERO). You don't need to contact them or file anything special - just make sure you file your taxes normally. Any increase would be retroactive to January 2025, and you might get a small lump sum for the difference for the months before the adjustment is processed.
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Chloe Anderson
•Automatic Earnings Recompu-- what?? Does this really happen automatically?? I started collecting last year and worked part time too and nobody told me about any recalculation! How much of an increase do most people get? Now I'm worried I'm missing out on money I should be getting!
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Diego Vargas
The Social Security Administration performs an Automatic Earnings Recomputation Operation (AERO) annually. This calculation usually happens in October of the year following your work year. So for your 2024 earnings, the recalculation would typically occur around October 2025. Keep in mind a few important details: 1. The increase isn't always significant - it depends on how your 2024 earnings compare to the earnings being replaced in your 35-year calculation 2. Any increase is effective January of the year after you earned the wages (so January 2025 for your 2024 work) 3. You don't need to request this - it's completely automatic once SSA receives your earnings information from IRS 4. You'll receive a letter notifying you of any change to your benefit amount If you don't receive any notification by December 2025, then you could contact SSA to inquire.
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Freya Pedersen
•Thank you so much for the detailed explanation! That's really helpful to know it happens in October of the following year. I wasn't sure if I needed to do anything specific or just wait. I'll just make sure my taxes are filed correctly and then wait for their letter. I appreciate knowing what timeframe to expect!
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Anastasia Fedorov
They SUPPOSEDLY do this auotmatically but when I stopped working in 2023 I never got any inrcease at all!!! Called SSA 4 times and everytime was on hold 2+ hours just to be told "its being processed" then got disconnected. SSA is a DISASTER and I'm STILL waiting for my recalculation. So dont trust the system to work right!!!
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StarStrider
•try using Claimyr - https://claimyr.com - they got me through to an agent in 25 mins last month after i was trying for weeks to get someone on the phone. they have this demo video that shows how it works https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. way better than sitting on hold forever. helped me fix an issue with my husband's payment that was wrong for months.
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Sean Doyle
One important thing: the recalculation will only increase your benefit if those additional months of earnings in 2024 are high enough to replace lower-earning years in your 35-year calculation. If you already had 35 years of solid earnings, the impact might be minimal. But if those 8 months of 2024 were higher than some years in your calculation, you should see an increase. Also, the recalculation for earnings in the year you claim benefits sometimes takes longer to process than the standard AERO. If you haven't heard anything by December 2025, I'd suggest calling them to check.
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Freya Pedersen
•That makes sense. I did have a couple years in my 35-year history that were quite low (took time off to care for my parents), so I think these 2024 earnings should definitely replace one of those years. Good to know I might need to be a bit more patient if it's my claiming year.
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Chloe Anderson
WAIT everyone is saying it's automatic but my uncle had to go into the office and request a "re computation" specifically!!!!! They don't always do it rigjt!! He got back pay for 2 YEARS because they never did his automatically even though everyone says they do!!!!!
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Diego Vargas
•While the AERO process is supposed to be automatic, there are situations where it might not work correctly: 1. If your employer reported wages incorrectly 2. If you're self-employed and there were issues with your Schedule SE 3. If you had earnings that weren't covered by Social Security (some government jobs) 4. If there were system errors in the SSA's processing So while most people don't need to do anything, it's always good to verify your annual Social Security statement to ensure all earnings are correctly recorded.
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Zara Rashid
this stuff is so confusing lol...i just know they adjusted mine after i worked part time but it was like 9 bucks more. i didnt even know it was happening until i got the letter. i bet the longer u wait to claim the less these extra earnings matter right? cuz by then your 35 years are probably already your highest anyway
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Omar Fawaz
•You're exactly right. The closer you are to retirement, the less likely additional earnings will significantly impact your benefit amount, unless they're replacing a particularly low-earning year or a zero-earning year in your 35-year calculation. In the OP's case, since they claimed at 62, there's a better chance that these additional earnings will make a difference compared to someone who waited until 67 or 70 to claim.
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StarStrider
my neighbor said she got almost $50 more a month after her recalculation but i think she was still paying into social security for a pretty good job she had. my understanding is once they do the recalculation they will pay u the difference for the months that already passed that year. so if they adjust in october, they'll pay u the difference for jan-sept all at once
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Freya Pedersen
•$50 a month would be amazing! That's over $600 a year. I was making pretty good money those first 8 months, so I'm hopeful it'll make a decent difference. Good to know about the retroactive payment too - that's a nice bonus I wasn't expecting.
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