Hello Larry.
1. I will be 64 in October (DOB 10/8/1955) 2. My Full R age is 66y, 2m.
3. I stopped working in October 2018. (I'm ok as I draw from a family real estate LLC that pays me & income taxes)
4. My SSA statement says 2841 Full or 3766 maximum benefit.
If I do not take another payroll based job, how will my Full and Max benefits be affected?
Thank you so much.
sk

Hi SK,

I would need a full list of your lifetime yearly earnings to give you an exact answer. Your Social Security retirement benefit rate is based on an average of your highest 35 years of wage-indexed earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf). The estimated benefit rates on your Social Security statement are likely based in part on an assumed level of future earnings, which should be shown on the statement. If those earnings don't materialize, Social Security will use your highest 35 years of earnings from your past earnings history. But how much of a drop off that would mean in your benefit rate depends on the difference between your total earnings in your actual 35 highest earnings years and the total used by Social Security for their estimate.

The benefit calculator included in our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) uses the exact same formula used by Social Security to compute benefit rates, so our software could tell you the correct rates that you could expect to receive. The software would also allow you to explore and compare all of your various filing options so that you can determine the best strategy for claiming your benefits.

Best, Jerry