Specialized Social Security Benefit Calculator (pension, 2014, state, retired)

[selhars]

Anyone know of an online Soc. Sec. benefit calculator somewhere that can run scenarios for finding out how much a given salary increase or overtime boost will increase a person's monthly benefit?

For example: a person has a salary (or base pay) of 60K -- and for the LAST TWO years of the 35 years -- works a lot of overtime and his salary ends up being 80K how much will that pull up his benefit -- over the amount they'd get if they didn't work that much?

-- Will the Soc. Sec website calculators work those kinds of calculations out?
-- Can you put in various scenarios like that?

Say a person is willing to work overtime -- but only if it increases his benefit by at least $100 a month.
Is there a way he can find out:
-- x amount of OT the last 2 years (of the 35 years) will increase my benefit x amount.
-- y amount of OT the last 3 years (of the 35 years) will increase my benefit by y amount

Or he might find out that instead of working himself to exhaustion to double his salary the last two years...just work steady OT the last five years and it gets him the same benefit.

Thanks.

[Bette]

Trying to get mine higher

Same issue

Would like to know

Way over 35 years but I know every year knocks off a low one and I was self employed starting in 1983 so some of those years show just the minimum which was around 7K.

[TMSRetired]

Have you tried this ?

The blue box "estimate your benefits" is what you click.
It allows you to put in an estimated future income.

https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html

[davebarnes]

Try this - https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com
It will cost you $40/yr and it worth it.
Finer granularity than the free SSA one.

[Bette]

Interesting - I have no idea what my average earnings would be - I know a lot are adjusted for inflation

I put in age 70
Then an amount I make now - got $2100 monthly

Then, I did it again and put in a higher amount to make now
It went to $2328 monthly

Then, I put age 72
Lowered the yearly by $10,000
It came to $2440 monthly

Confused now.....

Self employed but willing to really hard and put away more on a W2 if it really will help.

[TMSRetired]

Originally Posted by Bette

Interesting - I have no idea what my average earnings would be - I know a lot are adjusted for inflation

I put in age 70
Then an amount I make now - got $2100 monthly

Then, I did it again and put in a higher amount to make now
It went to $2328 monthly

Then, I put age 72
Lowered the yearly by $10,000
It came to $2440 monthly

Confused now.....

Self employed but willing to really hard and put away more on a W2 if it really will help.

Because you put in 72. 70 is the magic number.


https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/delayret.html
The benefit increase no longer applies when you reach age 70, even if you continue to delay taking benefits.

[Deoge]

Using your example, you could triple your salary the last two years of working and your SS increase would be small because this is averaged over 35 years of earnings.

[selhars]

Using your example, you could triple your salary the last two years of working and your SS increase would be small because this is averaged over 35 years of earnings.

That's what I said. BUT I was talking with a person who said he thinks doubling your salary -- say from 60 to 120k the last two years by doing extreme amounts of OT would increase that benefit by more than $100 a month.

(He was a postal worker and we were talking about all his coworkers who practically killed themselves doing OT the last couple of years before they retired. I also had a coworker who said he did it "to increase his Soc Sec. And of course there are stories about police officers and firemen doubling their salaries due to OT before retirement to boost pension or Soc Sec amounts. I am wondering if it's really worth it. Just how much IS the increase -- if it's only two years about of 35.)

And I said for me to exhaust myself doing OT like that I'd want to see a calculation showing me it's worth it. Because I wouldn't do it if it only increase my benefit by 50 bucks, or much less than $100.

So that's why I'm searching for an online calculator with the formulae already set in its algorithms to do the figuring.

--------------------------

Yes, I have tried the SS estimated benefits calculator.....and I will check it out again.
But.....from what I remember you put in your estimated salary and it calculates your benefit based on that salary for the rest of your working years until you retire.
The calculator questions are: -- when do you plan to stop working and -- future earnings per year.

I don't see a calculator for allowing for raises. What if you plan to stop working at 65...OK.. but...
-- from 60 to 62 make one salary -- 60K
-- from 62 - 65 make 80k

The calculator I see doesn't allow for that variable.

I want to know how much does a given increase for just two years increase the benefit -- given that it's only two years out of the 35.

Is there a FREE online calculator somewhere that will do that?

--------------------

Dave I will check out the maximize Soc Sec site.

[BOBNCHI]

Pay the $40 and use the Maximize My Social Security site in which you can insert just about any variable out there. Koltioff wrote the book on it and even pros use his system.

https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com...security-works

[Nightengale212]

Originally Posted by Bette

Trying to get mine higher

Same issue

Would like to know

Way over 35 years but I know every year knocks off a low one and I was self employed starting in 1983 so some of those years show just the minimum which was around 7K.

I am currently age 62.9 and began steady professional employment in 1978 following nursing school graduation. My 35 year work history was completed in 2013 when I was 56 and during that time I had 5 very low income years. I have continued to work full time since 2013, and 2018 was the year I completed working off my 5 low income years. According to my current Social Security statement which I recently received an e-mail to review, with a gradual $12K salary increase from 2013-2018 the difference between my FRA benefit in 2014 which was year 1 of working off 5 low income years compared to my 2018 FRA benefit which was year 5 is $310/month.

I work with a nurse colleague who started work at our current employer the same day as I when she was 46 and I was 44 in 2001. We both graduated nursing school and started working the same year 1978 but from 1978-2001 she only worked 8 years as she was a SAHM for 15 years where I although I had 5 low income years I still worked each every one of those 23 years. This nurse is now age 64 and despite earning a low six figure income for the last 5 years and a pretty decent salary the previous 14 years to that, when she retires at her FRA she will only have a 29 year work history and as a result her FRA Social Security benefit is not even at the amount my age 62 benefit is.


Yes, low income years certainly impact benefit amount but no income years that prevent you from reaching a 35 year work history at the time you begin collecting has much greater impact.