This is in regards to the 1st year rule. I have retired from one job and will keep working at the other. I get paid every other week at the job I am going to continue at and it is always the same amount. I want to collect social security for the months Sept - Dec and will make less than 1410 for each of those months. I talked to 2 people at social security which said that would be fine but when I went to file the person who is handling my claim tried to say that I would be over for those months because she took the yearly earnings and divided them by 12 months and because there are 26 checks it put me over the 1410 figuring this way instead of monthly. I did not start collecting until Sept. because there are 3 checks in Aug. which would have put me over so started my claim for Sept. When I look at the 1st year rule it says 1410 per month and I would be under the 1410 for the 4 months. I am just not sure what to think. If you could shed any light on this, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi,

Countable earnings for the monthly earnings test are based on how much you earn in a month, not how much you are paid in the month. And, since there are more than 4 weeks in all months other than February, you can't go by your weekly or bi-weekly paychecks when determining monthly earnings.

In your case, your work and earnings prior to September would be irrelevant. You may need to determine your correct monthly earnings for each month from September through December by determining your actual hours worked in each month and then multiplying by your hourly rate of pay (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/rule.html).

Before filing, though, you may want to strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website to be sure that you choose the best filing strategy.

Best, Jerry