Should High-Income Earners Who Plan to Keep Working Wait Until Age 67 or Even 70 to Claim Social Security Retirement Benefits?

 Should High-Income Earners Who Plan to Keep Working Wait Until Age 67 or Even 70 to Claim Social Security Retirement Benefits?

For people with relatively high incomes who are healthy and plan to continue working until age 67 or even 70, deciding when to start collecting Social Security retirement benefits is an important financial decision that deserves careful consideration.

Many people believe that once they reach age 62, they should begin collecting Social Security benefits as soon as possible. After all, getting money earlier seems better than waiting. However, if you still have a well-paying job and intend to continue working, claiming Social Security too early may not be a wise decision. In fact, it could result in losing out on substantial retirement income.

There is an important rule that many people overlook: Social Security has an Earnings Test. If you claim retirement benefits before reaching Full Retirement Age (FRA) and continue working, your earnings may cause some or even all of your benefits to be temporarily withheld.

Therefore, for high-income earners who plan to continue working, claiming Social Security at age 62 does not necessarily mean they will actually receive the money they expect.

1. Why Might High-Income Earners Receive No Social Security Benefits Before Age 67?

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), if you claim retirement benefits before reaching Full Retirement Age while continuing to work, your employment income is subject to an annual earnings limit.

For 2026, the rules are as follows:

• If you will not reach Full Retirement Age during 2026, Social Security will withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above the annual limit of $24,480.
• If you reach Full Retirement Age during 2026, the earnings limit increases to $65,160 for the months before you reach FRA. Social Security will withhold $1 in benefits for every $3 you earn above that limit.

This means that if someone earns $100,000, $150,000, or even $200,000 annually, their Social Security retirement benefits could potentially be withheld in full before they reach Full Retirement Age.

In other words, even though you have applied for Social Security benefits, your employment income may be high enough that you receive no actual benefit payments during that period.

It is important to understand, however, that withheld benefits are not necessarily lost permanently. Once you reach Full Retirement Age, the Social Security Administration recalculates your benefits and adjusts your monthly payment to account for the months in which benefits were withheld.

2. Everything Changes After Age 67

For people born in 1960 or later, Full Retirement Age is 67.

Beginning with the month you reach Full Retirement Age, there is no longer an earnings limit that reduces your Social Security retirement benefits.

This means that even if you continue working after age 67 and earn $50,000, $100,000, $200,000, or more annually, your employment income will not reduce your Social Security retirement benefits.

In other words, after age 67, you can receive two sources of income at the same time:

1. Your regular employment income.
2. Your monthly Social Security retirement benefits.

This is an important advantage for people who earn relatively high incomes and plan to continue working.

3. Waiting Until Age 70 Can Significantly Increase Your Monthly Benefits

Another important factor that many people overlook is that delaying Social Security benefits increases the amount you receive each month.

For people born in 1960 or later:

• Claim at age 62: Approximately 70% of your Full Retirement Age benefit.
• Claim at age 67: 100% of your Full Retirement Age benefit.
• Claim at age 70: 124% of your Full Retirement Age benefit.

For example, if your monthly benefit at age 67 would be $3,000, your estimated monthly benefits would be:

Claiming Age	Monthly Benefit
62	$2,100
67	$3,000
70	$3,720

These figures are illustrative calculations based on a $3,000 monthly benefit at Full Retirement Age. They do not account for future Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) or other factors.

As you can see, if you are healthy, earn a good income, and do not need Social Security benefits to cover your daily living expenses, delaying benefits may be worth considering.

However, there is one important point: Social Security retirement benefits do not increase further through delayed retirement credits after age 70.

4. Continuing to Work May Also Increase Your Future Social Security Benefits

Social Security generally calculates retirement benefits using your highest 35 years of earnings.

If you continue earning a relatively high salary in your 60s, those newer, higher-income years may replace some of the lower-income years in your previous earnings record.

As a result, your future Social Security retirement benefits may increase.

Therefore, even if you are already 62, 65, or 67, continuing to work at a salary higher than some of your previous earnings could potentially increase your eventual monthly retirement benefit.

This is another reason why high-income earners who plan to keep working should consider not only when to claim Social Security, but also how their continued employment may affect their future benefits.

5. My Recommendation: High-Income Earners Who Plan to Keep Working Should Not Rush to Claim Social Security

For people with relatively high incomes who are healthy and intend to continue working until age 67 or even 70, I believe delaying Social Security retirement benefits deserves serious consideration.

There are several reasons:

First, if you earn more than the government’s annual earnings limit before age 67, some or even all of your Social Security benefits may be withheld. Applying early does not necessarily mean you will actually receive the money.

Second, after age 67, you can continue working and earn as much as you want without having your Social Security retirement benefits reduced because of your employment income.

Third, if you wait until age 70 to claim benefits, your monthly payment can reach 124% of the amount you would receive at age 67. That is a 24% increase compared with claiming at Full Retirement Age.

Fourth, continuing to work may allow higher-income years to replace lower-income years in your 35-year earnings record, potentially increasing your future retirement benefits.

Of course, everyone’s circumstances are different. If you have health concerns, need Social Security income to cover living expenses, or have other family or financial considerations, claiming benefits earlier may still be a reasonable choice.

There is also one particularly important reminder: Even if you decide to wait until age 67 or 70 to claim Social Security retirement benefits, do not forget to enroll in Medicare at age 65.

Delaying Social Security benefits does not mean you can ignore Medicare enrollment requirements at age 65.

Conclusion

Many people start thinking about claiming Social Security as soon as they turn 62 because they believe receiving money as early as possible is always the better choice.

However, for people with relatively high incomes who do not plan to retire immediately, this approach may not be the best financial decision.

If you continue working after age 62 and earn $100,000 or even $200,000 annually, your Social Security benefits may be completely withheld because of the earnings limit. At the same time, you may miss out on the opportunity to receive significantly higher monthly benefits by delaying your claim.

Therefore, the age at which you retire does not have to be the same as the age at which you begin collecting Social Security. Likewise, stopping work does not mean you must immediately apply for retirement benefits.

For high-income earners who are healthy and want to continue working, carefully evaluating the advantages of waiting until age 67 or even 70 to claim Social Security may be a much better approach to long-term retirement financial planning than rushing to apply at age 62.

References: Social Security Administration (SSA)

• Working While Receiving Social Security Benefits
• Receiving Benefits While Working
• Delayed Retirement Benefits for People Born in 1960 or Later
• Delayed Retirement Credits

Note: This article is based on Social Security Administration rules for 2026 and primarily discusses Social Security retirement benefits for ordinary retired workers. Special benefit situations may be subject to different rules.

Gang Chen, Publisher/Bestselling Author (GreenExamEducation.com)

Architect, LEED AP BD+C, Real Estate Broker (BRE# 01232392)