I RETIRED AS AN INSURANCE AGENTin1990. and began Social Security. As a pension I also received over the years monthly renewal income from which was withheld annually the sum.of $199.80 Social Security plus $46.68 re: Medicare. Therefore as I received $16,824. SS each year I continued each tax time to pay, over 26 years, $5,195 total( so far) back into
Soc. Sec. system. Question: will I ever benefit from the extra $5,195. paid back into Social Security ? .I'm nearly age 90 now . And should I request a larger benefit from local SS. office? Thanks for your response .( I would prefer an email..hearing is bad.)

Hi,

The additional taxes you paid would only increase your benefit rate if your earnings level in those years was higher than your earnings amounts in some of the years previously used to calculate your benefit rate. Social Security retirement benefits are calculated based on a person's highest 35 years of wage-adjusted earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10070.pdf).

Social Security automatically recalculates benefit rates for people who have earnings after retiring, so if your post-retirement earnings levels were high enough to increase your benefit rate you should have already received any increases due. You could always ask Social Security to double-check, though.

Best, Jerry