Will reducing work hours before Social Security retirement age affect my SS benefit amount?

Good news! After 46 years of work, one lower-earning year likely won't impact your benefit much. Social Security calculates based on your highest 35 years of earnings (adjusted for inflation). So if you've worked 46 years, you already have more than enough years to fill that calculation, and one lower year would just not be counted among your highest 35. As for retiring at year end vs. new year, there can be some tax planning advantages to consider. If you expect to be in a lower tax bracket next year, delaying income into January might save you some money. But from a purely Social Security calculation standpoint, it makes virtually no difference.

I went thru somthing similar last yr. cut down to 20 hrs a week 6 months b4 retiring. No effect on my SS check at all!! They told me they use your 35 highest earnings years so unless your making more NOW than you did in any of those 35 years (adjusted for inflation) it dont matter what u do in your last year.

The previous answers are correct about the 35 highest earning years, but there's actually a bit more to consider with the timing: If you retire in December 2024, your earnings for 2024 will be part of your earnings record immediately. If you wait until January 2025, you'll actually reach your Full Retirement Age (FRA) in February, so you'd have just one month of potential benefit reduction if you claim immediately in January. However, there's another consideration: the earnings test doesn't apply once you reach FRA. So if you work in January 2025 and claim benefits, you might be subject to the earnings test for that one month, but after your birthday in February, you can earn unlimited amounts without reduction. If you're planning to claim immediately upon retiring (rather than waiting until 70 for maximum benefits), the December vs January decision might depend on your expected January earnings and your overall financial situation.

Everyone here is forgetting about COLA!!! If you retire Dec 2024 you won't get the 2025 COLA increase but if you wait till Jan or Feb you WILL get it!!!! That's FREE MONEY every month for the rest of your life!!!!! Don't leave it on the table!!!!!

When I hit my retirement age last year I just kept working part time. didnt make any difference on the ss benefits. They just look at your lifetime earnings not what your making right now. but if your under full retirement age and collecting early then there are limits to what you can make.

I tried calling SSA to ask almost this exact question a few months ago. Complete nightmare. Was on hold for 2+ hours before getting disconnected. Called back, waited another hour, got someone who couldn't even understand my question properly. Finally I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that someone recommended in another thread. They got me connected to an SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of hours. You can see how it works in their video: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent I spoke with confirmed what others are saying - one lower earning year after 46 years won't hurt your benefit amount. They use your highest 35 years, and they're indexed for inflation too.

BTW what I did was retire on Jan 3rd. That way i got my vacation time payout in the new year and it helped with taxes cuz I was in a lower bracket the next yr with less income. might be something to think about.

One additional point that might help with your decision: if you're going to continue working part-time after claiming benefits, and you've already reached your Full Retirement Age (FRA), there is NO limit on how much you can earn while still receiving your full Social Security benefit. So in your case, once you reach FRA in February 2025, you could work as much or as little as you want with no impact on your benefits. This gives you flexibility to gradually reduce your hours or even continue working part-time indefinitely if you enjoy your job.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information! I feel much better about my plan to reduce hours next year knowing it won't significantly impact my SS benefits after 46 years of work. I'm thinking I'll probably work part-time until my actual FRA in February 2025 and then file for benefits at that point to avoid any complications with the earnings test. I'll check with my HR department about the vacation payout timing too - good point about the tax implications.

Sounds like you have a solid plan! One thing I'd add - since you mentioned you're confused about how SSA calculates benefits, you might want to create a my Social Security account at ssa.gov if you haven't already. You can see your complete earnings history and get benefit estimates based on different retirement scenarios. It's really helpful for planning and you can verify that all your earnings over those 46 years are properly recorded. Sometimes there are errors or missing years that can affect your benefits, so it's worth checking before you retire.

As someone who just went through this exact situation last year, I can confirm what others have said - reducing hours in your final year before FRA won't hurt your benefits after 46 years of work. I cut back to 30 hours/week for my last 8 months and my SS benefit was exactly what the calculator predicted based on my highest 35 years. One tip I wish someone had told me: if you're planning to use that company transition program, make sure you understand how it affects your health insurance coverage. Some employer plans have minimum hour requirements to maintain benefits, and losing coverage before you're eligible for Medicare can be expensive. Just something to factor into your decision alongside the SS considerations. Also, definitely set up that my Social Security account mentioned above - seeing those 46 years of earnings history really puts things in perspective and helps with retirement planning!

I'm in a similar boat - approaching retirement age and trying to figure out the best timing strategy! This thread has been incredibly helpful. One thing I wanted to add based on my research: if you're considering the reduced hours option, you might also want to think about whether your employer's transition program affects any pension benefits you might have. Some pension calculations are based on your final average salary over the last few years, so reducing hours could potentially impact that separately from Social Security. Also, I've been using the Social Security calculator on their website to run different scenarios - you can input hypothetical earnings for future years to see exactly how different income levels would affect your benefit. It's been really eye-opening to see that after so many years of work, those final year earnings really don't move the needle much on the monthly benefit amount. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's so much more helpful than trying to decipher the official SSA publications!

I'm just starting to think about my own retirement planning and this discussion has been incredibly educational! I'm still about 10 years away from FRA but already worried about making the "wrong" decisions when the time comes. One question for those who've been through this - how far in advance did you start seriously planning the timing details? It sounds like there are so many factors to consider (Social Security calculations, health insurance, pension implications, tax planning) that I'm wondering if I should start mapping this out now or if that's overkill. Also, for someone like the original poster who has 46 years of work history - is that typical? I've been working since I was 22 and sometimes wonder if I should have started earlier to build up more earning years, but it sounds like after 35 years the additional years don't help much anyway. Really appreciate everyone sharing their real experiences and practical advice!

This has been such a helpful thread! I'm about 5 years out from FRA myself and have been stressing about similar timing decisions. Reading everyone's real experiences has been way more valuable than wading through the SSA website. One thing I wanted to add for anyone else in this situation - if you do decide to create that my Social Security account to check your earnings history, make sure to do it well before you need to make any decisions. I set mine up last year and discovered they were missing a full year from when I changed jobs in the mid-2000s. It took several months and a lot of paperwork to get it corrected, but it was worth it because that missing year was actually one of my higher earning years. @Freya It sounds like you've got a solid plan with all the great advice here! The peace of mind knowing that one lower-earning year won't significantly impact your benefits after 46 years of work must be such a relief. Good luck with whatever you decide on the timing!

As someone who works in benefits administration (though not for SSA), I wanted to add one practical tip that might help with your decision timing. Since you mentioned being confused about the SSA website - you're definitely not alone! One resource that's often overlooked is your local SSA office. While phone wait times can be brutal, many offices allow you to schedule in-person appointments for retirement planning consultations. The agents can pull up your actual earnings record and run the calculations with your specific numbers, which takes all the guesswork out of it. Given that you have such a long work history (46 years is impressive!), an in-person consultation might be worth the time investment. They can show you exactly how different scenarios - December 2024 retirement, reduced hours in 2024, etc. - would affect your actual benefit amount rather than you having to rely on online calculators or general advice. Also, regarding your question about timing for tax purposes - this might be worth discussing with a tax professional alongside your SSA planning, since everyone's tax situation is different. The interplay between retirement timing, final year income, and tax planning can get pretty complex depending on your other retirement accounts and income sources. Hope this helps add another angle to consider in your planning!

Reading through this thread as someone who's still a few years away from retirement, I'm amazed at how much practical knowledge everyone has shared! The point about checking your earnings record early really resonates - I just looked at my last Social Security statement and realized I have no idea if all my job changes over the years were properly recorded. @Freya, it sounds like you're in a really good position with 46 years of work history. The consensus here seems pretty clear that reducing hours for your final year won't hurt your benefits, which must be such a relief! I'm curious - when you do create that my Social Security account that several people mentioned, would you mind sharing what you discover about how your earnings look? Obviously not the specific numbers, but just whether everything appears accurate? I'm wondering if missing years are more common than people realize. One thing this discussion has made me think about is how much peace of mind comes from really understanding these systems before you need to make the decisions. It seems like the people who took time to research and plan ahead (like scheduling those in-person SSA consultations) felt much more confident about their choices. Thanks to everyone for sharing such detailed experiences - this thread should be required reading for anyone approaching retirement age!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in a similar situation - 3 years away from FRA with 43 years of work history, and I've been wondering about the same timing questions. The reassurance that one lower-earning year won't significantly impact benefits after so many years of work is exactly what I needed to hear. I wanted to add one thing that might be useful - if you're considering the reduced hours option, check whether your company's transition program affects your 401k matching. Some employers reduce or eliminate matching contributions for part-time employees, which could be another factor in your decision timeline. In my case, staying full-time until December to maximize that final year of matching might outweigh the minor Social Security considerations. Also, thanks to everyone who mentioned the my Social Security account - I just set mine up and found it fascinating to see all those years of earnings laid out. Really puts your career in perspective! No errors in my case, but good to know that's something to watch for. @Freya, your 46 years of work history is impressive and should give you great flexibility in your retirement timing. Sounds like you're making a well-informed decision!

Wow, this has been such an educational thread to read through! I'm about 8 years out from my FRA and already starting to worry about making the "right" decisions when the time comes. @Freya, it's really reassuring to see how much support and solid advice you've gotten here. The consensus seems crystal clear - with 46 years of work history, you have incredible flexibility and shouldn't stress about that final year's earnings impacting your benefits. One thing that really stands out to me from everyone's responses is how important it is to get your actual earnings record reviewed early. Between the stories about missing years and calculation errors, it sounds like that my Social Security account setup should be priority #1 for anyone approaching retirement, not something to do last minute. I'm also struck by how many different factors people have mentioned - health insurance minimums, 401k matching, pension calculations, tax implications. It really drives home that retirement timing isn't just about Social Security benefits, but about optimizing across all these different systems simultaneously. Thanks to everyone who shared their real experiences here. This kind of practical, lived-experience advice is worth its weight in gold compared to trying to navigate the SSA website alone!

This thread has been absolutely fascinating to read! I'm still about 15 years from retirement but already getting anxious about all the decisions I'll need to make. Seeing @Freya's situation and everyone's thoughtful responses has really opened my eyes to how much flexibility you have with a long work history. The thing that surprised me most is learning that Social Security uses your highest 35 years of earnings, adjusted for inflation. I always assumed it was based on your final years of work, so knowing that one lower-earning year basically doesn't matter after 46 years is really reassuring for future planning. I'm definitely going to set up that my Social Security account soon - the stories about missing earnings years are eye-opening. Better to catch any issues now when I have plenty of time to fix them rather than discovering problems right before retirement. Thanks to everyone who shared their real experiences and practical tips. This is exactly the kind of information that's impossible to find in the official government resources but incredibly valuable for actual retirement planning!

As someone who's been helping friends and family navigate Social Security decisions for years, I can confirm what everyone else is saying - your 46 years of work history puts you in an excellent position! The beauty of the Social Security system is that it's designed to protect people exactly like you who've had long, stable careers. One additional consideration I haven't seen mentioned yet: if you do decide to take that transition to part-time hours, make sure you understand how your company handles things like unused sick leave or PTO in addition to vacation time. Some employers have different payout policies for part-time vs full-time employees, and that could affect your total compensation for the year even beyond the hourly reduction. Also, since you mentioned being confused by the SSA website - you're definitely not alone! I always recommend people focus on the key concept that's been repeated here: 35 highest years, adjusted for inflation. Everything else is just details around that core calculation. With 46 years of earnings, you have 11 "buffer" years that won't even count toward your benefit calculation. You really can't make a "wrong" choice here from a Social Security perspective, which should give you the freedom to focus on what works best for your overall well-being and life goals. Congratulations on such a successful career - you've earned the flexibility to make this transition on your own terms!