Russell GloorDear Rusty: I am currently receiving Social Security (SS) benefits while continuing to work full time. There are no restrictions on my wage earnings because I waited until my full retirement age (FRA) before beginning benefits. However, I was also told that my benefit amount would be reviewed each year if my current earnings were higher than past earnings. That held true for the first two years but has yet to be adjusted for 2025. I thought it might be because of HR 82 [the Social Security Fairness Act, which was signed into law on Jan. 5, 2025]. It does not impact me directly, but I think it may be the reason my payment has not yet been changed. Has enough time passed, where I should contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) now to see if this is the case?
Signed: Waiting Anxiously
Dear Waiting Anxiously: If you are already collecting benefits, the SSA reviews your earnings each year to see if your more recent earnings are high enough to warrant an increase in your monthly benefit. It does this automatically, after the agency gets your most recent earnings data from the IRS, and it typically does that review by the end of the 3rd quarter of each year. If a higher benefit is indicated, the SSA will increase your monthly amount and pay you retroactively to the beginning of the year for any difference in your benefit.
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The SSA has, indeed, been vigorously working on changes resulting from the Social Security Fairness Act, which may have affected the timeliness of its review of your recent earnings. However, I suspect that is not why your SS benefit has not yet changed. More likely, it has to do with the fact that your past earnings have been adjusted for inflation (which is a normal part of the SSA’s process when calculating your benefit amount). Your earnings for each year in your lifetime (up to age 60) were adjusted for inflation when you originally claimed SS, and your recent earnings would need to be higher than the inflation-adjusted amounts used by the SSA when you claimed. It uses the 35 highest-earnings years (adjusted for inflation) over your lifetime to calculate your benefit, and inflation has a substantial effect. For example, $50,000 earned in 1990 would require more than $100,000 in earnings today to cause an increase in your benefit. Thus, you cannot go by the actual dollars you earned in earlier years, because the SSA uses inflated amounts to calculate your benefit.
In any case, if you believe that the SSA neglected reviewing your earnings from last year, or in any year since you claimed, you can make an appointment to review that with the agency by calling (800) 772-1213. The SSA typically does such appointments over the phone, so you likely won’t need to make a personal visit to your local SSA office to investigate this.
Russell Gloor is a national Social Security advisor at the AMAC Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC). The 2.4-million-member AMAC says it is a senior advocacy organization. Send your questions to: ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org.
Author’s note: This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained, and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). The NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity.