I quit my engineering job a year and a half ago to stay home and take care of our child. My husband continues to work full time. If I go back to work part time, how will that impact my social security benefits? I am wondering if it would be better for me to stay home until I can go back to my engineering job full time or if working part time in a lower paying job for a few years wouldn't hurt my social security benefits. I am over 50. Who should I seek out to get help with retirement planning? Thank you

Hi,

You can't hurt your benefit rate by working part-time. Social Security retirement benefits are based on an average of a person's highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings. If your years of part-time work don't end up being among your highest 35 years of earnings, then those years disregarded when calculating your benefit rate.

You may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to do your retirement planning. We offer several software options, among which is our MaxiFi program (https://maxifiplanner.com/). MaxiFi is a full featured financial planning program, and the software incorporates all your financial data to create a highly detailed lifetime financial plan.

Best, Jerry