Question About The Earnings Cap

P

Phillip

New Member
Location
Southern US
I am suppose to re-apply for my social security again January 8th. I filed in June of last year and Social Security fed me this crap about how I am going to be over the cap by the time I would have gotten my first check. I am 62...

Since I am re-applying in January and plan to stop working the middle of Febuary will I be OK as far as the cap is concerned? I do not understand this cap crap! They say $17,640 then they say $1450 a month...Which is it?
 

Depending on your birthday, the cap will got away when a person turns between 65 and 67. Age 67 is considered the Full Retirement age when no cap is used. A person can earn as much as they want and also get full SS. My wife has been since turning 67 three years ago. Full-time job and SS as well.

What SS website says: "If you earn wages before full retirement age, Social Security sets an annual dollar limit and then begins to deduct $1 from your benefit for every $2 you earn over the limit."
 
ClassicRockr said:
Depending on your birthday, the cap will got away when a person turns between 65 and 67. Age 67 is considered the Full Retirement age when no cap is used. A person can earn as much as they want and also get full SS. My wife has been since turning 67 three years ago. Full-time job and SS as well.

What SS website says: "If you earn wages before full retirement age, Social Security sets an annual dollar limit and then begins to deduct $1 from your benefit for every $2 you earn over the limit."
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That still don't tell me nothing...$17,640 or $1450? Or both?
 

afaik, the calendar year that you retire, the monthly $1450 rule applies for the balance of the year. After that, just the annual ($17,640 but the amount varies based on age..) rule applies. Yes it's confusing.
 
The explanation I received was they deducted $1 for every $2 dollars earned that was over the cap. What they don't plainly explain is how they deduct the overage. They do not simply withold the overage amount from your monthly benefit in twelve reduced payments. They actually stop all SS payments beginning in January until you have met the estimated overages for the current year, then your normal SS benefits resume.
 
Hoot N Annie said:
afaik, the calendar year that you retire, the monthly $1450 rule applies for the balance of the year. After that, just the annual ($17,640 but the amount varies based on age..) rule applies. Yes it's confusing.
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So I plan to work only 1/2 of Febuary...But I am working through the entire month of January...I will be $334 over the $1450 for January...So will I be on the monthly bullshit list or the annual bullshit list?
 
I'm not qualified to say. The folks at your local SS office would be the best place for a definitive answer.
 
I am confused as well. I am being paid through the end of March. That will be $40,000. Then I am retiring. I will turn 64 in March as well and plan to take SS. So I have the opportunity to do some part time consulting starting in April. I’m guessing $15,000 per year.

So, how on earth does this work in my situation?
 
Floridatennisplayer said:
I am confused as well. I am being paid through the end of March. That will be $40,000. Then I am retiring. I will turn 64 in March as well and plan to take SS. So I have the opportunity to do some part time consulting starting in April. I’m guessing $15,000 per year.

So, how on earth does this work in my situation?
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Good luck..No one knows how this works not even dumbass Social Security.
 
I talked to 2 different people after a 45 minute wait on the phone. The first person was clueless and I swear had the vocabulary of a 9 year old. Switched me to someone else, an older woman with more experience.

Here is what she said. If you are going to take SS prior to your full retirement age....if you start anytime after January it doesn’t matter how much you make prior to SS, but the remaining months of the year will be the $1,450 per month. So if you start collecting in August it doesn’t matter if you have made a zillion dollars prior to August, but for the rest of the year you are capped at the $1,450.
 
Floridatennisplayer said:
I talked to 2 different people after a 45 minute wait on the phone. The first person was clueless and I swear had the vocabulary of a 9 year old. Switched me to someone else, an older woman with more experience.

Here is what she said. If you are going to take SS prior to your full retirement age....if you start anytime after January it doesn’t matter how much you make prior to SS, but the remaining months of the year will be the $1,450 per month. So if you start collecting in August it doesn’t matter if you have made a zillion dollars prior to August, but for the rest of the year you are capped at the $1,450.
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I bet if you call the dumbasses agian you will get a different answer.
 
the first year has special rules .. from the month you start collecting you are allowed 1450 a month or a cumulative total .

so if you started in july you can earn a max of 8700 plus whatever you made prior which does not count . next year it is the full 17,400 you are allowed..

i took mine in sept .. i was over 1420 (the limit when i did it ) in sept and october by a bit and under 1420 in nov and dec. there was no give back
 
mathjak107 said:
the first year has special rules .. from the month you start collecting you are allowed 1450 a month or a cumulative total .

so if you started in july you can earn a max of 8700 plus whatever you made prior which does not count . next year it is the full 17,400 you are allowed..

i took mine in sept .. i was over 1420 (the limit when i did it ) in sept and october by a bit and under 1420 in nov and dec. there was no give back
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Well I finally got my answer....With me filing in January they are using the $17,640 since thats what I am allowed to make for the year. And to anyone considering this; you would do well to file in January to avoid the monthly cap...if your 62. I ran into that problem back in July 2018. I was already half way there and would would have been over the cap by November 2018. So filing in January is your best option if you can wait that long.
 
From what I understand, even if you go over the required amount and it gets taken away, you will get back that taken away amount when you reach full retirement age, what ever that age might be for you. You don't actually lose anything. And what ever you've earned that gets cut from you now, may even later on get you a higher social security check when that amount gets added to your overall years of earnings.
 
Olivia said:
From what I understand, even if you go over the required amount and it gets taken away, you will get back that taken away amount when you reach full retirement age, what ever that age might be for you. You don't actually lose anything. And what ever you've earned that gets cut from you now, may even later on get you a higher social security check when that amount gets added to your overall years of earnings.
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you don't lose it but the way it is doled back out to you it can take you as much as 17 years to get back .
 
When I retired, some 20 years ago, I was told to accept a certain number for that year and then the next year would be set to my maximum. So yes, I did have to do as asked for the first period of months and then thing went good even when I went back to work, SS just keeps on coming.
 
Olivia said:
From what I understand, even if you go over the required amount and it gets taken away, you will get back that taken away amount when you reach full retirement age, what ever that age might be for you. You don't actually lose anything. And what ever you've earned that gets cut from you now, may even later on get you a higher social security check when that amount gets added to your overall years of earnings.
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Thats true...But once you go over the $17,640 then your limited to just $1470 a month...They then take $1 for every $2 you go over....For example if I applied in July 2018 and if I had left it alone I would have been some $4000 over the annual $17,640...Even if I had stopped working it would have been months before I ever saw a check...They do not do a very good job of explaining this on the SS site and thats whats so confusing, it was for me....
 
prior to filing there is no limitation on earnings . i made 100k prior to filing 3/4's in to the year , it is not counted . the clock only starts ticking after you file . i was limited for only sept , oct , nov and december once i filed . any amount you earned earlier in that year is not counted . there are special rules for firsat year and also the year you will be fra .

you can earn up to 45k the year you will be fra up until your birthday when there is no limit .
 
mathjak107 said:
prior to filing there is no limitation on earnings . i made 100k prior to filing 3/4's in to the year , it is not counted . the clock only starts ticking after you file . i was limited for only sept , oct , nov and december once i filed . any amount you earned earlier in that year is not counted . there are special rules for firsat year and also the year you will be fra .

you can earn up to 45k the year you will be fra up until your birthday when there is no limit .
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prior to filing there is no limitation on earnings . i made 100k prior to filing 3/4's in to the year , it is not counted .
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Guess that depends on who you talk too at the Social Instability Office...The office I filed through the first time counted the whole year from January up until I filed the first time in July. They did not discount nothing....they included everything up until I filed then everything after that. Every person you talk to seems to make up their own rules...It's basically a case of the left hand not knowing what the right one is doing.
 
no , it should not matter who you speak to , if they said that they are wrong 100%....

right on the ss website it clearly explains what happens . ... see their example ....

personally i can't see ss getting this wrong . i think it is more a misunderstanding of what they told you . this is basic stuff. .


Special Earnings Limit Rule

Some people who retire in mid-year have already earned more than their yearly earnings limit. That is why we have a special rule that applies to earnings for one year, usually the first year of retirement.
The special rule lets us pay a full Social Security check for any whole month we consider you retired, regardless of your yearly earnings. If you will

  • Be under full retirement age for all of 2018, you are considered retired in any month that your earnings are $1,420 or less and you did not perform substantial services in self employment.
  • Reach full retirement age in 2018, you are considered retired in any month that your earnings are $3,780 or less and you did not perform substantial services in self-employment.
"Substantial services in self-employment" means that you devote more than 45 hours a month to the business or between 15 and 45 hours to a business in a highly skilled occupation.
Example: John Smith retires at age 62 on June 30, 2018. He earned $37,000 before he retired.
On October 5th, John starts his own business. He works at least 15 hours a week for the rest of the year and earns an additional $3,000 after expenses. His total earnings for 2018 are $40,000.
Although his earnings for the year substantially exceed the 2018 annual limit ($17,040), John will receive a Social Security payment for July, August and September. This is because he was not self-employed and his earnings in those three months are $1,420 or less per month, the limit for people younger than full retirement age.
John will not receive benefits for October, November or December 2018 because he worked in his business over 45 hours per month in all three months.
Beginning in 2019, the deductions are based solely on John's annual earnings limit.
 
mathjak107 said:
they are wrong 100%
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They maybe..But what are you going to do? They got you over a barrel...I was told by a co-worker to file in January to avoid the cap until I retire on March 1...When you have people you work for that are complete assholes and will not work with you then you have to resort to other tactics...Been working for 46 years now, hated every f'ing job I ever had.
 

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