Q & A
Will a Lower-Paying Job Before Retirement Hurt My Social Security?
Full question: My husband has been working on his job for almost 30 years and is eligible to retire and draw his retirement from them. He will be 58 years and eight months old at time of retirement. He is planning to get another job to work until he can draw his Social Security. So the question is: If he gets a job making less money than his current job, how will that affect the amount of Social Security payments he’ll get when he is old enough to get it? Is there something he needs to do so that his amount of payments from the Social Security will not be smaller payments?
Answer:
The questioner is afraid that by taking a lower-paying job, her husband may receive lower Social Security payments when he retires. That’s a logical fear, but actually the reverse may be true. If he hasn’t yet worked 35 years, his Social Security payments will be higher as a result of his new job. Here are seven things about Social Security everyone should know: Read more.
Source: MoneyTalksNews.com – August 27, 2013
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the answer was unclear. I am about to turn 59. after earning a good income for 30+ years in the tv and film industry, it has collapsed and i only earned 1/2 of normal income in 2024, and have no idea what this year will bring. will this effect my total monthly payout from SS?
algren:
Social Security will calculate your benefit based on the highest 35 years of indexed earnings in your record, with each year adjusted to current levels (present-valued). This produces an “average indexed monthly earnings” figure which is used to calculate your monthly benefit. If your earnings record contains 35 or more “good income” years, then lower-income years after that would not affect your benefit calculation. If some of the 35 highest years are lower income years, then there would be an affect on your calculated benefit. If you have created a mySocial Security Account, you can check the earnings in you record to see what the highest 35 years are, but remember that what appears in your record is the raw income figure that has not been indexed. You can still use it to see how many “good income” years you have on record.
If you do not have a my Social Security Account, you can set one up at ssa.gov/myaccount. Just select Create an Account.
If we can help you with this in any way, please contact our Social Security Advisory Service at 888-750-2622 or email us at SSAdvisor@AmacFoundation.org.
Gerry Hafer, Social Security Advisor
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