Will Social Security recalculate my benefits if I keep working after FRA until age 72?

That's great to hear! I wasn't sure if I needed to contact them or if it just happens. October is a while away, but at least it's automatic. Thanks for sharing your experience.

This is accurate but I'd add one important detail - the recomputation only helps if the new year of earnings is high enough to replace one of your existing 35 highest years. If you had very high earnings throughout your career, working a part-time job after retirement might not increase your benefit at all since it wouldn't break into your top 35.

Your accountant is incorrect regarding the earnings limit once you've reached Full Retirement Age. The earnings limit ONLY applies to people who collect SS before their Full Retirement Age. Since the original poster (and you) have already reached FRA, you can earn any amount without reduction in benefits. Your accountant may be thinking about tax implications - up to 85% of your benefits could be taxable depending on your combined income, but that's completely different from having benefits withheld due to earnings.

Thanks for sharing your experience. That makes sense - I guess replacing just one year out of 35 won't make a dramatic difference. I'm still happy to get any increase at all since I'm working anyway. Every little bit helps for the long run!

That doesn't sound right. If your earnings were higher than some of your previous 35 years, you should have seen increases. You might want to try calling again and specifically ask for someone who can explain the automatic recomputation of benefits. I've found that using Claimyr (claimyr.com) helped me get through to an actual person at SSA without the endless wait. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - it's made a huge difference for me when I need to get issues resolved. Worth checking out if you're still trying to get this sorted out.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Is there any way to estimate how much of an increase to expect? For example, if I replace a year where I earned $30,000 with a new year at $100,000, is there a formula to calculate the approximate benefit increase?

Unfortunately, there's no simple formula because the benefit calculation is quite complex. The PIA formula applies different percentage factors to different portions of your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME). When you replace a lower earning year with a higher one, your AIME increases, but the impact depends on which 'bend points' your AIME falls within. Generally speaking, the higher your existing AIME, the less impact each additional dollar of earnings will have. SSA's website has a detailed explanation of the formula if you want to dive deeper.

They don't add more years to the calculation - it's always based on exactly 35 years. If you've worked more than 35 years (which most people at FRA have), then SSA takes your highest 35 years of earnings, not just the most recent ones. So when you work after claiming benefits, if that new year of earnings is higher than your lowest year in the current 35-year calculation, the new higher year replaces the old lower year, potentially raising your benefit amount.

A $200 increase from one additional year of work is possible but unusual. This could happen in specific circumstances: 1) If he had a very low earning year in his top 35 that got replaced by a very high earning year, 2) If he had fewer than 35 years of earnings previously, so the new year filled in a 'zero' year, or 3) If there was a correction to his earnings record at the same time as the recomputation. Without knowing his specific situation, it's hard to say, but increases in the $20-50 range are much more typical for most workers.