Working at 70: What It Means for Your Social Security Checks

Although many people look forward to retiring by the time they turn 70, not everyone is ready to leave the workforce at that point. You may decide to continue working because you enjoy your job, or because you need the paycheck. Or, you may opt to go back to work after having retired because money has gotten tight.

Age 70 is generally considered the latest age to sign up for Social Security, since it's when you stop accumulating the delayed retirement credits that can boost your monthly benefits. You can technically sign up beyond that point, but waiting won't do you any good.

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You may be wondering how working at 70 might affect your Social Security checks. And the good news is that if anything, it could have a positive impact on your benefits -- not a negative one.

Working at 70 won't reduce your benefits

There's no reason not to work while collecting Social Security at age 70. It's true that when you're getting benefits prior to full retirement age, Social Security's earnings test is something you have to worry about. And making too much money could result in having benefits withheld temporarily.

But the earnings test no longer applies once you reach full retirement age. At 70, you're well past that point, so there's no income limit to concern yourself with.

Working at 70 could raise your benefits

Not only is working at 70 not a problem from a Social Security standpoint, but it could actually lead to bigger checks. That's because your monthly Social Security benefit is based on your 35 highest-paid years of earnings. If your wages at 70 are higher than one or more of the lower-earning years already included in your record, they can replace smaller wages, leading to larger benefits.

And you don't have to claim Social Security again to see your monthly benefit increase. Once the Social Security Administration is able to recalculate your benefits based on those reported wages, your monthly checks should increase.

That said, you may not see your benefit go up. If you're working part-time at 70, for example, you may not be earning enough to replace a year of lower wages in your benefit formula.

But either way, you should know that working at 70 while collecting Social Security isn't a problem. So if it benefits you socially or financially to have a job, you should feel comfortable continuing to earn money.

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