You can continue to work and receive full retirement
benefits. Your earnings in and after the month you reach your full
retirement age will not affect your Social Security benefits. However,
your benefits will be reduced if your earnings exceed certain limits
for the months before you reach your full retirement age, 65 for persons
born before 1938 and gradually increasing to 67 for persons born in
1960 or later.
Here's how it works;
If you're under full retirement
age, $1 in benefits will be deducted for each $2 in earnings you have
above the annual limit ($11,520) in 2003.
In the year you reach
your full retirement age, your benefits will be reduced $1 for every
$3 you earn over a different limit ($30,720 in 2003) until the month
you reach full retirement age. Then you can work without any reduction
in the amount of your monthly benefit, no matter how much you earn.
People who work and collect disability or SSI benefits have different
earnings requirements. They should report all their income to Social
Security regardless of how much they earn.
Social Security counts only the earnings
you make from a job or your net profit if you're self-employed. This
includes compensation such as bonuses, commissions and vacation pay.
It doesn't include pensions, annuities, investment income, interest,
Social Security, veterans or other government benefits.
For More Information: To learn more about the Social Security earnings
limits and how they affect you, call or visit any Social Security
office to ask for a copy of the leaflet, How
Work Affects Your Benefits (Publication No. 05-10069).
Copyright 2006 . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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