Will my Social Security increase by working past FRA? Recalculation impact vs. COLA raises

Yes! This happened to me and it's not talked about enough. I kept working after my FRA (mine was 66) and saw my benefit increase by $138/month after two years of additional work. My earnings from 2022-2023 replaced some lower earnings from the 1980s. The SSA automatically recalculates this each year - you don't have to do anything. The increase shows up after they process your W-2 for the previous year, usually around October-November in my experience.

i think ur confusing this with the cola increases everyone gets. ssA gives everyone a raise each year based on inflation. last year was 3.2%. thats probably what ur friend saw not because they were working

I can confirm this is real, but the amount varies widely depending on your specific earnings history. The SSA takes your highest 35 years of indexed earnings to calculate your benefit. If you're earning significantly more now than your lowest-counted year (after indexing for inflation), you'll see an increase. My increase was modest - about $47/month after my first full year of post-FRA work. That's because only one year of my earnings history was being replaced, and the difference wasn't enormous after indexing. But I've heard of people getting $100+ monthly increases when their current salary is MUCH higher than their early career earnings. The recalculation happens automatically the year after you file your taxes. You'll get a letter from SSA when it happens.

They NEVER told me bout this when I signed up!!!! I worked 3 years past my FRA and nobody at SS office mentioned I'd get more $$$. How do I know if I got the increase??? Do I need to call them and ASK for it?? The whole system is designed to HIDE benefits from us!!!!

I had this exact situation. I kept working past FRA (66+2mo for me) and saw my benefit increase after the first full year. My monthly payment went up by about $83 after they recalculated based on my 2023 earnings replacing a much lower year from the 1980s. One thing to understand: the increase doesn't happen immediately after you earn the money. The SSA doesn't do the recalculation until they receive your W-2 information the following year. Then it takes several months for them to process it. In my case, I saw the increase show up in October 2024 for my 2023 earnings. If you're having trouble reaching the SSA to ask about this (their phone lines are ALWAYS jammed), I found a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to a representative quickly. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. I used it to confirm that my recalculation had been processed correctly - totally worth it to avoid hours on hold.

When I turned 70 last year my sister told me I had to call SS and apply for an increase but when I called they said I didn't need to do anything special for working years just for delayed credits. Now I'm confused again lol. Getting old is not for wimps!

To directly answer your question: The dollar amount increase varies widely because it depends on: 1. How much higher your current earnings are compared to your lowest indexed year in your current benefit calculation 2. How many years you continue working post-FRA with these higher earnings 3. Where those replaced earnings fall in your overall 35-year calculation Some technical details: When SSA calculates your benefit, they index your past earnings to account for wage inflation, take the highest 35 years, average them monthly (AIME), and then apply a formula to get your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). The formula is progressive, meaning lower earnings get replaced at a higher percentage than higher earnings. So replacing a very low earnings year might give you a bigger percentage boost than you'd expect. Based on what I've seen with clients (I'm a retirement planner), increases typically range from $25-150 per month for each year of substantial post-FRA work that replaces a significantly lower year.

my brother in law kept working til 72 and got extra $230 a month from his original amount when he was 66. he made like 120k at his job tho so prolly depends on how much u make

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I'm definitely going to continue working a few more years - between potentially increasing my SS benefit, building up my 401k a bit more, and enjoying my job, it makes sense for me. It's nice to know the recalculation happens automatically too.

Great thread! I'm in a similar situation - just turned 67 and considering whether to keep working. One thing I wanted to add that hasn't been mentioned yet: you can actually estimate your potential increase by looking at your Social Security Statement online. If you log into your mySocialSecurity account, you can see your complete earnings record showing all 35 years used in your current calculation. Look for the lowest amounts in that list (keeping in mind they're already indexed for inflation) - those are the years that would potentially be replaced by your current higher earnings. I did this calculation for myself and realized that even though I'm "only" making $75k now, it would replace a year where I made about $18k (indexed) back in the early 90s when I was working part-time. The difference should give me a decent bump when the recalculation happens. Also worth noting: even if you're not making dramatically more than your lowest years, every year you work past FRA is still adding to your overall retirement security through your 401k, building up cash reserves, delaying when you need to tap other retirement accounts, etc. The SS increase is just a nice bonus on top of all that!

As someone who just started collecting Social Security at 67 but is still working, this entire thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I had no idea about the automatic recalculation benefit. My earnings have definitely increased significantly since my early career days in the late 80s and early 90s - I was making maybe $25k-30k back then compared to around $82k now. Reading through everyone's experiences, it sounds like I could potentially see a meaningful increase once my current year's earnings get processed. The fact that it happens automatically is reassuring too, since navigating Social Security can feel overwhelming as a newcomer to the system. One question for those who've been through this: do you get any kind of notification letter when the recalculation happens, or do you just notice it in your monthly payment? I want to make sure I don't miss it when it occurs. Thanks to everyone for sharing such detailed real-world experiences!

This is such valuable information! As someone new to Social Security, I had no idea that working past FRA could actually increase your monthly benefits through recalculation. I'm 66 and considering when to start collecting - I was planning to wait until 67 (my FRA) but hadn't thought about the possibility of continuing to work afterward for this additional benefit. Reading through everyone's experiences, it seems like the key factor is whether your current earnings are significantly higher than your lowest years in the 35-year calculation. I've been in tech for most of my career, so my early years in the mid-90s were definitely much lower than what I'm making now (around $95k currently vs maybe $35k back then). A couple follow-up questions: Does anyone know if there's a limit to how many years this recalculation can happen? Like if I work 5 years past FRA, could I potentially see increases each of those 5 years if my earnings stay high? And is the benefit increase permanent once it happens, or does it get recalculated again if you eventually stop working? Thanks to everyone for sharing such detailed real-world examples - this kind of practical information is so much more helpful than trying to decipher the SSA website!