I have been receiving social security retirement benefits since I turned 62 in March of 2022. I now have been offered a job that will exceed the $19,560 allowed. I was told if I terminate my benefits that I will have to pay back all the money I have received from SS in 45 days. What are my best options?

Hi. You have two basic options. You can either withdraw the claim you filed (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/withdrawal.html) and then reapply for benefits at some time in the future, or you could simply notify Social Security how much you'll be earning so that they can suspend your benefits for as long as it takes to withhold $1 of your benefits for each $2 that you'll earn in excess of the earnings test exempt amount.

If you withdraw your claim, when you reapply for benefits your new monthly benefit rate will be calculated based on your age at the time you restart your benefits. In other words, you wouldn't then be stuck with your age 62 rate. However, as you mention, you would have to repay all of the benefits you've received in full before you'd be allowed to withdraw your claim.

If you instead choose to have Social Security suspend your benefits for as long as is necessary due to your earnings, you probably won't have to repay any of the benefits you've received so far. However, when your benefits resume you'd still be stuck with your age 62 rate at least until you reach full retirement age (FRA). At that point, Social Security would recalculate your benefit rate to remove the reduction for age applied for any months between age 62 and FRA that your benefits were suspended because of your earnings.

There isn't necessarily a best option between the two mentioned above. The best option for you depends on a number of different factors, not the least of which is your ability to repay the benefits you've been paid to date. You may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to run some 'what if' scenarios so that you can compare your options and make an educated decision.

Best, Jerry