Earnings during retirement
Love your segments on WGN, my wife and I are retired and both work part time. She’s paid very well in her position and is panicking about going over her 1800.00 monthly limit. I keep telling her that I heard you discussing this and we should make that money while we can. She’s worried about the penalties if we go over……your opinion??
Terry Says
I’m not sure what $1800 monthly “limit” you could be talking about! Is she under her full retirement age and collecting Social Security? If so, her check will be reduced. BUT, in a little-known but actually amazing automatic adjustment, she will get that money back in a higher check once she reaches Full Retirement Age! It’s call the “adjustment of the reduction factor.” Don’t bother asking SS about it — they never know!! But Larry Kotlikoff explains it well in our book, Social Security Horror Stories.
One other thought — though I’m just guessing at your question. If you or she took SS within the last year, why not repay the benefits received and delay taking it until at least FRA or longer? You can’t do that if you’ve been receiving checks for longer than one year.
