Hi
I will be 62 in November 2022. I have my 40 credits of SS. I have half my years with $0 earnings. My daughter wants to hire me for $150 a month and give me a 1099. Will this affect my SS benefits negatively? Should I just suggest another way to compensate me? Thank you. Karen

Hi Karen. No, earning $150 per month won't have any adverse effect on your Social Security benefits. You can earn up to $19,560 in 2022, or up to $1630 per month without causing any of your benefits to be withheld due to your earnings.

If anything, it sounds like your earnings may increase your benefit rate by a small amount assuming that you pay self-employment taxes on your earnings. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings. Therefore, if your 35 year average includes years with zero earnings then replacing at least some of those zero years with years with some earnings will increase your benefit rate, although any such increase will be minimal if you only earn $150 per month.

What will lower your monthly benefit amount significantly is starting your benefits at age 62. Since your full retirement age (FRA) is apparently 67, starting to draw benefits at age 62 will reduce your monthly amount by roughly 30%. You should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry