Q & A
I am a self-employed male, age 65. I have never earned much, usually less than $10,000 a year. However, my income is quite flexible; I could earn much more. If my Social Security is based on my best years of income, would it be worthwhile to earn more in these last years before I start to collect my benefits? I don’t intend to start until I’m 70 and I have a family history of longevity.
Answer: Very good question. The answer is a big yes! I just ran your case through my company’s Maximize My Social Security software. I assumed you earned $10,000 per year, in today’s dollars, from age 20 on, but that you would earn $40,000 per year from now through age 70 (you’d retire the day you hit 70). With that increase in income, your lifetime benefits rise from $280,263 to $325,878. That’s a 16 percent increase. Your annual retirement benefit, measured in today’s dollars, would rise from $13,087 to $15,217. Read more…
Source: LAURENCE KOTLIKOFF, www.pbs.org
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