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Karen, I don't know about your NY pension, but I will clarify some details about your Social Security pension and put in a link to that page on the SSA.gov website. I've researched this and have a pretty good handle on it.
First of all, you cannot withdraw your Social Security retirement claim and repay it if it's been more than one year since you filed - nor do they ask you to do that.
The earnings test/limit usually increases each year. In 2017, it is $16,920 for those who are not reaching their full retirement age (FRA) in 2017. If one earns more than that, benefits are reduced $1 for every $2 over.
For those who do reach FRA in 2017, they can earn $44,880 gross pay in the months prior to their FRA. If one earns more than that, benefits are reduced $1 for every $3 over. Your FRA appears to be age 66. For those born after 1954, it is higher. Once you reach FRA, your earnings beginnng that month will not affect your benefits.
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the 44,880 is prorated though . so if you are fra in july you were allowed to earn only 24,440 up to that point . after fra there is no more limit .so you can't earn 44,880 in the first 6 months.
i started ss in sept at 65 so even though i can earn 16,920 a year those remaining months only allow me 5640 until the end of the year . the 16,920 is prorated .
it is a cumulative total too. while 5640 is 1410 a month they don't care if i get 2k in a month and less in other months as long as i don't go over the 5640.00 i am allowed for sept-dec .
Thanks everyone. Monday I will be speaking to someone else in "Restorations". If I understand correctly, I need to pay it back any way I want, but it needs to be in total before I retire (again). From what I understand, my pension will be recalculated when I retire again.
So even if I HAD to pay it back the first year- I'd still get an tiny income because my pay would be over the $50K for that year.
I did look into "outside" jobs and went on interviews, but either they want to pay slave wages, and/ or the job wasn't want I really do and it was basically made up along the way during the interview. (I will be investigating deaths with NYS. Plus I wasn't hired yet, but I do have the quals since I've done this before. It is a new position for this agency which I have not worked in before.)
As far as returning to work to start with, I want to work. I'm bored and feel I have something to contribute. Retirement isn't all it is cracked up to be. Who knows, I may stay in it past 10 yrs. Right now my health is better than ever.
We do have our house up for sale to down-size and we will save $$ there.
I took a quick look at the NYS site and it looks like you only owe the money back if you want your pension recalculated when you re-retire. But you don't HAVE to do that, you can choose to just have a second benefit calculated based on the additional years of service. Presumably, more years means a higher pension, so for many people, it will be beneficial to just have the new years added on and the total benefit recalculated, but it also seems fair that you don't get to collect a retirement pension for X number of years, but then get credit for additional years of work PLUS get to keep the pension.
Quote:
Members with two or more years of service credit who do not wish to repay previous benefits and receive a recalculated pension will have their original pension reinstated and will receive an additional benefit based on their service after the return to membership.
Mathjak, You are correct that it can be advantageous to use the prorated, or monthly earnings test. This way if you've already earned more than the annual limit, sometimes it's possible to get more checks (than using the yearly limit) if you've reduced your earnings or stopped working later in the year. For example, in 2017, the monthly limit is $1410, or 1/12 of the annual limit of $16,920. Any month you earn over $1410 when you are using the monthly limit, you would not be due your check. Also, this is usually only permitted once, normally in the first year of retirement.
For someone who is self-employed, there are additional considerations. The following link pertains to self-employment earnings that are over the annual limit:
The (2017) $44,880 limit someone can earn in his FRA year is NOT prorated unless the person retiring in their FRA year will earn more than $44,880 before his birthday month. Then it can be prorated if it would give him more in benefits by using the monthly earnings test. Once again, there can be additional considerations for self-employed people.
In your FRA year, generally they will prorate your earnings for the year over the months that you work to figure how much you will earn prior to FRA. Someone in his full retirement year is able to earn $44,880 in the months prior to FRA without it affecting his Social Security benefit.
If someone turns FRA 5/15, he is able to earn up to $44,880 through 4/30 without it affecting his benefits. For example, if he works all year and earns $120,000 that amount is pro-rated at $10,000 per month. Thus, someone turning FRA May 15th would get every check if he took benefits beginning January, but if he turned FRA Sept. 15th he would be earning $80,000 prior to FRA and would have 1/3 of the amount over $44,880 withheld from his checks if he started benefits in January. OTOH, if our Sept. birthday boy earned $300,000 through May and then cut back to $5610/month for the rest of the year, he could start checks in June and get every check.
Here's another link to information available on SSA's website:
I took a quick look at the NYS site and it looks like you only owe the money back if you want your pension recalculated when you re-retire. But you don't HAVE to do that, you can choose to just have a second benefit calculated based on the additional years of service. Presumably, more years means a higher pension, so for many people, it will be beneficial to just have the new years added on and the total benefit recalculated, but it also seems fair that you don't get to collect a retirement pension for X number of years, but then get credit for additional years of work PLUS get to keep the pension.
This makes a lot more sense to me. Otherwise, I couldn't imagine how/why a state would have anything to say about whether one went back to work - or needed to re-pay part of one's pension.
However, several years ago, my wife was in a state teacher's pension plan, which she dropped for a number of years. At retirement, we had the option to buy-back those 5-years (during which she had not contributed to the pension plan) at about $10-$20K per year. We decided not to do that, even though it might have paid-off in the long run.
Your pension is $540/ m) and your SS is $1200/m. Your monthly income is 540+1200= $1740.
My pension is $1480/month.
I do not understand why you think that you 'NEED' to work.
You do not have a 'tiny' pension.
Why do you feel you are 'sinking'?
I do not agree.
You have a good pension income.
Do you seriously believe that everyone's personal and financial circumstances are the exact same as yours and everyone can live on what you have as a pension?
Do you seriously believe that everyone's personal and financial circumstances are the exact same as yours and everyone can live on what you have as a pension?
No, not at all.
I know many of my neighbors who live on much smaller pensions.
Of course people do not need as large a pension as mine.
Which is why I must question wealthy people who whine about their pension income being so much more.
I know many of my neighbors who live on much smaller pensions.
Of course people do not need as large a pension as mine.
Which is why I must question wealthy people who whine about their pension income being so much more.
Now you are just being absurd. You clearly live in a very low cost area. Many people live in places where your pension wouldn't even cover the real estate taxes on a completely paid off house. I have no idea where the OP lives and what the cost of living there is, but I trust her to know her financial situation better than you do.
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